Do you think we should be donating blood? - Cure Parkinson's

Cure Parkinson's

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Do you think we should be donating blood?

Bolt_Upright profile image
20 Replies

I read where somebody said their PD had made them more compassionate and that now they regularly gave blood. Seems like, since we don't know what causes PD, that maybe giving blood is not a good idea?

Edit: My concern is for the recipient.

Edit 2: According to The Science of Parkinson's it is safe for PwP to donate blood: scienceofparkinsons.com/201...

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Bolt_Upright profile image
Bolt_Upright
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20 Replies
Sydney75 profile image
Sydney75

I have a PT therapist who believes it reduces iron toxicity. I don't know if they would want the blood though, as many are taking a couple meds. Interestingly they do write whether the donar is vaxed or not.

MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson

i cast my 1 vote that its good for pwp to give blood.

kevowpd profile image
kevowpd

Is your concern around the welfare of the pwp or that of the recipient?

Bolt_Upright profile image
Bolt_Upright in reply to kevowpd

The recipients.

kevowpd profile image
kevowpd in reply to Bolt_Upright

Fair question i reckon.

Gcf51 profile image
Gcf51

I have been regularly giving blood for yrs. I am up to almost a 2 gallon donor at the local blood center. I asked if PD was ok, and they replied not on there restricted list. I vote good to get iron out.

Adding, I would have bled to death if it wasn't for a law enforcement officer holding a pressure point while i was being cut out of car 5 decades ago. I was given blood at hospital.

Another thought: I agree we don't know all the causes of PD, but in most cases it takes yrs to develop and most who receive blood don't have yrs to live.

Bolt_Upright profile image
Bolt_Upright

According to The Science of Parkinson's it is safe for PwP to donate blood: scienceofparkinsons.com/201...

Thal profile image
Thal

I gave til my ferritin levels tested low. Check with Doc first.

kaypeeoh profile image
kaypeeoh

I've donated blood regularly since 1975. I think I'm over 10 gallons.

Cagey84 profile image
Cagey84

In the UK people with PD aren’t allowed to donate blood.

Bolt_Upright profile image
Bolt_Upright in reply to Cagey84

I like those UK standards. Must be fit and healthy: blood.co.uk/who-can-give-bl...

Zardoz profile image
Zardoz

"CHRONIC ACQUIRED IRON OVERLOAD- A DISEASE OF MANY PARKINSON’S SUFFERERS"

Some thoughts and remedies for too much iron in PWP:

parkinsonsinstitutesarasota...

alaynedellow profile image
alaynedellow

I was told not to donate in UK.

laglag profile image
laglag

Bolt, thanks for bringing this up. I've always been curious.

LAJ12345 profile image
LAJ12345

Given the meds end up in the blood probably not a good idea for the recipient. They may be at risk of dying if they don’t receive blood, but unless there is such a shortage they are at risk of not being able to have the transfusion if it wasn’t for the the PWP blood I don’t think thats a valid argument.It is possibly good for the PWP patient if they have an overload of iron. I assume they test for sufficient iron when you first donate.

Having said that, many other people take lots of pharmaceuticals and some PWP don’t take many so if everyone on medication didn’t donate there might be a shortage.

LeharLover62 profile image
LeharLover62

It’s an interesting question too, given the trials at Stanford experimenting with young blood transfusions to improve Pd symptoms. I don’t know the outcome of this trial, but it might imply that PD compromises the bloodstream in some ways.

Bolt_Upright profile image
Bolt_Upright

One thing I think we can all agree on (based on the FMT studies): We should not be donating poop :)

Boscoejean profile image
Boscoejean

When our daughter was a senior in high school she was old enough to donate blood so we went over to a blood donation location that was at a church. We were there for quite a while and it ended up that neither one of us was able to donate because she was 3 pounds under their minimum weight requirement and I have been borderline for anemia for many years. After several years of B12 shots the situation has improved somewhat but I do not give blood specifically because of this situation. Isn't there a blood test being developed to screen for alpha synuclein? I wonder if the alpha synuclein would be in all of the components of the blood like the platelets for instance.

ox.ac.uk/news/2023-12-05-re....

Bolt_Upright profile image
Bolt_Upright in reply to Boscoejean

Somebody said that you can't donate blood in the UK if you have PD. It makes sense to me to not donate blood if you have a disease that nobody knows the cause of.

Cagey84 profile image
Cagey84 in reply to Bolt_Upright

That’s true, PwP in the UK aren’t allowed to donate blood

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