When did you last give blood?

94 watchers

FreshStart Jan 2020 9:13am, 10 Jan 2020 3,745 posts	0 FreshStart Was it this lady? bbc.co.uk My next appointment isn't until the end of Feb.
HappyG(rrr) Jan 2020 9:31am, 10 Jan 2020 33,829 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) The lady in the chair next to me that I was chatting to said that when she enquired about giving platelets 6 months ago she was told they wanted men's not women's. She didn't know why, and neither did any of the Blood staff. She was assured at this time that her platelets would be wanted. I didn't know blood, or platelets, were gender-specific? Or even gender-relevant? Any docs / scientists able to explain? G
Pothunter Jan 2020 9:40am, 10 Jan 2020 1,917 posts	0 Pothunter Was just about to link to that same BBC article. From the article: The high level of iron present in male blood makes it especially helpful to patients who rely on regular life-saving transfusions. Unlike men, women produce antibodies during pregnancy which makes their blood unviable for numerous specialist transfusions and blood-based products, such as complete blood transfusions in newborn babies.
Fizz :-) Jan 2020 10:52am, 10 Jan 2020 3,484 posts	0 Fizz :-) When I looked into platelets, I’m too light. You have to have a certain volume of blood for it to be worthwhile, and women have to be relatively heavy (or tall) to qualify.
Fizz :-) Jan 2020 10:55am, 10 Jan 2020 3,485 posts	0 Fizz :-) Height/weight matrix for platelets. platelets.blood.co.uk
Fragile Do Not Bend Jan 2020 10:57am, 10 Jan 2020 5,320 posts	0 Fragile Do Not Bend The one on the radio was a young boy. There was a phone in, and it quickly turned into a mass moan about the difficulty of getting an appointment, a subject covered on this thread before.
LindsD Jan 2020 11:29am, 10 Jan 2020 32,611 posts	0 LindsD Wow! I'm also too light, but am considered (by the NHS) to be overweight. That's really interesting.
Peregrinator Jan 2020 11:49am, 10 Jan 2020 408 posts	0 Peregrinator Some years back I was tested for platelet donation, but didn't have the required density of them. Don't know if that was because it wasn't worth their while harvesting or concerns about reducing the number in me.
Fizz :-) Jan 2020 12:10pm, 10 Jan 2020 3,486 posts	0 Fizz :-) I’m also overweight on the BMI scale, Linds.
LindsD Jan 2020 12:35pm, 10 Jan 2020 32,615 posts	0 LindsD So interesting