The DIVINE EXPERIENCE of donating

All religions talk about social responsibility, and encourage you to commit acts of charity and selfless love towards one another, as members of one family. Giving your blood for another is an exalted act of charity and love. An act that makes you dearer to your fellow being and takes you closer to God. Many donors have talked about a 'divine' feeling at the end of the blood donation. Instead of feeling enervated, they have felt strengthened and spiritually uplifted.

If you have any doubts, do talk to your spiritual adviser and see what he or she says. Take guidance. And act today, to feel a better human being tomorrow!

AB

People with Blood type AB negative and AB positive are potential universal plasma donors. This means plasma can be transfused to people having all Blood types.

AB +
People with this type of Blood are universal recipients. This means that they can accept any type of Blood.

O +
O positive donors are needed more frequently than any other donor. Because O positive is the most common Blood type, it is needed more often by people requiring Blood in hospitals.

O -
People with O negative donors are potential universal red blood cell donors. This means that their red Blood cells can be transfused to patients with all types of Blood.

Simply put, your Blood is tested for ABO/Rh. These tests identify your 'Blood type.' You may have A, B, O, or AB type Blood and may be either Rh+ or Rh-. The basis of the Blood group tests is the ability to detect specific substances, or antigens, on the red Blood cells. The A antigen is on type A cells; the B antigen is on type B cells. If neither A nor B antigens are detected, the donor has type O Blood; if both are present, the donor has type AB Blood. If the major Rh antigen is present, the donor is Rh+ (for example, O+, A+, B+, or AB+); if not, the donor is Rh- (O-, A-, B-, or AB-).

There are more than 600 other antigens that have now been identified on red Blood cells. These sub-types are important, but often not considered.

In short, What are Blood Types?

Everybody has a Blood type. The most common Blood type classification system is the ABO system discovered and defined by Karl Landsteiner in the early 1900s. There are four types of Blood in the ABO system: A, B, AB, and O. Your Blood type is established before you are born, by specific genes inherited from your parents.

You receive one gene from your mother and one gene from your father; these two combine to establish your Blood type. These two inherited genes determine your Blood type by making proteins called agglutinogens exist on the surface of each red Blood cell in your body. Blood test results are important in Blood disorders in Blood test and Blood tests with Rare Blood types.

There are three alleles (variations) of the Blood type gene: A, B, and O. Since we all have two copies of these genes in our Blood, there are six possible combinations; AA, BB, OO, AB, AO, and BO. These combinations are referred to as genotypes, and they describe the genes you got from your parents.

In addition to the proteins existing on your red Blood cells, other genes make proteins called agglutinins that circulate in your Blood plasma. Agglutinins are protectors of our bodies and are responsible for ensuring that only the Blood cells of our own particular Blood type exist in our bodies.

Under the ABO Blood typing (grouping) scheme, there are two especially important antigens called A and B. Every living human has either one or both or neither of the red Blood cells. An individual with Blood group A is so because he has antigen A. Antigen B makes a person's Blood group B. If a person has both antigens, then they are in group AB. If they have neither, the Blood group is O.

Antibodies against these two antigens are found in Blood plasma. Some of the components of each Blood type act against other components.

For example, Blood groups A, B, AB and O have antigens A, B, A&B and 'none' respectively. The antibodies are anti B, anti A, 'none' and anti A + anti B.

During the transfusion process, Blood matching must first be accurately done. For example if a person of Blood group A is given Blood from a donor from Blood group B, the anti B antibodies will stick to the B antigens on the donated red Blood cells entering their body. This makes a reaction that can be fatal. Therefore, exact matching is critical; possibly the difference between life and death!

Other than in extreme emergency conditions, donor Blood is checked for compatibility with the recipient's Blood (cross-matched) before it is transfused, regardless of Blood type. There are potentially important Blood cell factors other than the A, B, AB and O Blood groups and the Rh (Rhesus) factor that can lead to serious and in some cases, irreversible problems.

Some Blood Donation Facts

•        Only 10% of the required blood is available readily in India
•        Anemic patients  need blood to increase iron levels
•        Accident victims need maximum blood
•        Red blood cells must be used within 42 days.
•        Plasma can be stored and used for up to a year.