Newswise — Many know that donating blood saves lives, but the life you save just may be your own.
“Excessive iron is believed to contribute to heart disease and donating blood reduces the iron stores in the body,” said Ivan Pacold, MD, chair, Cardiology Department, Loyola University Health System’s Gottlieb Memorial Hospital. “Plus you get a mini-assessment each time you give blood to reinforce wellness."
“Blood can only be obtained through human donation; there is no synthetic substitute for blood,” Pacold said. “One pint of blood can help up to three people in need; four if you include the donor.” An American Medical Association study reports that giving blood every six months led to fewer heart attacks and strokes in participants ages 43 to 61. Each donor has their temperature taken, pulse checked, blood pressure and blood count measured.
Nurses, technicians, phlebotomists, physicians and more who care for patients around-the-clock at Loyola University Health System also voluntarily donate their own blood to help those in need through regular on-campus blood drives.
New Tat? You Can Still Give Blood
Illinois legislation allows individuals who got a tattoo after Jan. 1, 2010 to skip the previously enforced 12-month waiting period before donating blood as long as they got a tattoo at a busines inspected by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“In 2005, I got a tattoo of a Mayan calendar in honor of my Hispanic heritage and I was really disappointed that I had to wait a year to be eligible to donate blood,” said José Sanchez, an information systems technician at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital who is a regular blood donor. “In July 2010, I got a second tattoo featuring the names of my two daughters – Maya and Isabella – and because it is after Jan. 1, 2010, I can continue to give blood."
Loyola partners with the American Red Cross to sponsor regular blood drives on two of the health system's campuses.
“Hispanic blood is particularly in need, so I always give when I can,” said Sanchez, who like 57 percent of Hispanics in America is blood Type O, the universal donor. More than 60 percent of the population is eligible to give blood yet fewer than 3 percent in Chicagoland are donors. Less than 1 percent of area donors are Hispanic.
Like Sanchez, Jorge Maldonado, a hospital chaplain, is Hispanic and also is a regular blood donor. "Giving blood for me is easy and it means so much to help others to keep going," said Maldonado, who was also a regular blood donor in his native Chile. "There are so many Hispanics in Chicago. I feel it is even more important for me to give, and I can help whoever may be in need."
Blood is called “the gift of life” because there is no synthetic substitute.
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