Recently someone on dialysis who had a low hemoglobin was advised by his doctor to take a blood transfusion. Innocently he asked me if he could get a donor and we could take the blood from the donor and transfuse it immediately to him?
The scene from the Bollywood classic Amar Akbar Anthony came instantly to my mind where Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor, lying on three beds are donating blood. Blood from the three cannulas is flowing into one bottle and from that bottle, the blood flows through a line to Nirupa Roy's veins - all inline!
Makes for some excellent cinema. Unfortunately, blood transfusions are not so simple and straightforward in real life!
In real life, blood is never directly transferred directly from donor to recipient. It is first collected from the donor, then screened for viruses such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C and then a cross matching sample is taken from the recipient and another test is performed to certify that the donor's blood is suitable for the recipient.
Also, often, the recipient is advised some subset of the whole blood that is drawn. It could be packed cells, platelets etc. Sometimes, whole blood is also infused.
Also, blood transfusions are not a very healthy thing to do too often. There is always a risk of catching viral infections that have not been detected due to the virus being in the incubation period. Even inherently, blood transfusions are unhealthy because they prevent the body from producing antibodies.
This means that we should be constantly monitoring our hemoglobin levels and take the dose of erythropoietin necessary to avoid blood transfusions. The guidelines for the dosage of erythropoietin varies from country to country but the guideline that I have been recommended is to make sure the hemoglobin is between 10.5 and 11.5. Anything less than that and you don't feel as well and is risky in other ways. Anything more than that and you could risk clotting your fistula. Again, you should check with your nephrologist about what hemoglobin range you should target.
The scene from the Bollywood classic Amar Akbar Anthony came instantly to my mind where Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor, lying on three beds are donating blood. Blood from the three cannulas is flowing into one bottle and from that bottle, the blood flows through a line to Nirupa Roy's veins - all inline!
Makes for some excellent cinema. Unfortunately, blood transfusions are not so simple and straightforward in real life!
In real life, blood is never directly transferred directly from donor to recipient. It is first collected from the donor, then screened for viruses such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C and then a cross matching sample is taken from the recipient and another test is performed to certify that the donor's blood is suitable for the recipient.
Also, often, the recipient is advised some subset of the whole blood that is drawn. It could be packed cells, platelets etc. Sometimes, whole blood is also infused.
Also, blood transfusions are not a very healthy thing to do too often. There is always a risk of catching viral infections that have not been detected due to the virus being in the incubation period. Even inherently, blood transfusions are unhealthy because they prevent the body from producing antibodies.
This means that we should be constantly monitoring our hemoglobin levels and take the dose of erythropoietin necessary to avoid blood transfusions. The guidelines for the dosage of erythropoietin varies from country to country but the guideline that I have been recommended is to make sure the hemoglobin is between 10.5 and 11.5. Anything less than that and you don't feel as well and is risky in other ways. Anything more than that and you could risk clotting your fistula. Again, you should check with your nephrologist about what hemoglobin range you should target.
... http://www.kamaldshah.com/2011/11/blood-transfusions-very-different-from.html
