According to the American Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the U.S. requires a blood transfusion.

We all know blood donation benefits others, but did you know there are benefits for the donor as well?  The Kinetic Edge Corporate team had the opportunity to participate in a blood drive at our local LifeServe in Pella a couple weeks ago.  Check out some of these additional blood donation benefits that donors experience.

1. Giving blood can reveal potential health problems:

You’ll receive a mini-physical prior to the blood draw, in which someone will check your pulse, blood pressure, body temperature, hemoglobin and more.  This can sometimes shed light on issues you didn’t even know about.

2. Giving blood can reduce harmful iron stores:

Hemochromatosis is a disease that causes an iron overload, and donating is a way to reduce the body’s extra iron stores.

3. Giving blood may lower your risk of suffering a heart attack:

Donating blood at least once a year could reduce your risk of a heart attack by 88%.   The high levels of iron in the blood constrict your blood vessels and create more risk of a heart attack.

4. Giving blood may reduce your risk of developing cancer:

Phlebotomy (the process of drawing blood) was found to be an iron-reduction method that is associated with lower cancer risk and mortality, according to a study published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

5. Giving blood burns calories:

This will probably surprise you, but donating blood helps you to burn some calories.  Your body can burn up to 650 calories every time you donate one pint of blood. This happens due to the process your body goes through to replace the blood plasma that is lost during the donation.

In addition to all these benefits for you, one blood donation could help up to three patients! If you’d like to make a blood donation locate the blood donation center closest to you at https://www.aabb.org/for-donors-patients/give-blood and follow the instructions for scheduling!

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