Restrictions for Donating Blood as Stated by the American Red Cross

Restrictions for Donating Blood as Stated by the American Red Cross

It is said that 70% of Americans are eligible to give blood even though the criteria to donate seems quite strict. Each case is treated individually based on why the person is donating. An autologous donor is one who is giving blood to use for them self if needed during a future surgery. All others are anonymous donors who donate blood for others to use when it is needed. I will discuss the reasons why a person could not donate blood as an anonymous donor in this essay.

Some things such as age and weight have minimum limits but not maximum limits. A person must be at least 17 years old in most states to donate their blood; this is because a person is generally considered an adult at the age of 17 and does not need parental consent to donate. The Minimum weight limit is 110lbs. The reason for this requirement is to protect the donor. A person under 110lbs may not tolerate having a pint of their blood removed because of how little they had to start with.

A large number of people in our society are on prescription medications but that does not always mean one cannot donate blood. If a person were on the following medications, they would never be allowed to donate their blood: Tegison, a human pituitary-derived growth hormone, Coumadin, or Heparin. Other medications such as Plavix, Accutane, Soriatane, and Avodart require that the donor wait to donate blood for 3 days to 3 years after their last dose.

There are certain medical problems a person can have that would make them ineligible to donate their blood. A person who currently has or has had leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, hepatitis (caused by a virus) or hepatitis B/C, unexplained jaundice, HIV, or AIDS is not eligible to Donate blood. This is because there is a likely chance that the disease could be transported to the patient that receives the blood transfusion.

The reason that I am currently not able to donate blood is because I am pregnant. I am already donating some of my blood to the baby I am carrying. From the day I give birth, I will still have to wait 6 weeks to donate blood because that is the recommended time a woman needs to fully recover from the labor or child birth.

A few other things I should mention about restrictions regarding blood donation are about minor conditions such as one having