(The Daily News, Galveston, TX) - by Herber Taylor - A new study has found that people who get blood that is more than two weeks old during some heart surgeries are 30 percent more likely to die rather than recover.The study, published in the March 20 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, has some significant implications here at home.
The study presents some interesting technical challenges for people such as Dr. Alexander Indrikovs, director of the blood bank at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Indrikovs said blood banks across the country would look at their practices in light of the study.
But the study also has implications for those who, at some point in their lives, will need blood. It will also have implications for those of us who are able to donate.
Blood banks are allowed to keep blood on hand for 42 days. Blood is often in short supply and shortening the allowable shelf life to, say, 14 days would only make the shortage worse.
Naturally, blood-bank officials try to manage the inventory by using older donations before their expiration date rolls around. That’s usually not a problem in the Houston-Galveston area, which has several major medical centers. Demand is high and blood moves quickly in large volumes through the regional network.
But, any way you look at it, the study suggests that restrictions on blood transfusions will get tighter, rather than more relaxed.
How do you deal with the increased pressure on the supply? One way is to better educate doctors. Avoiding unneeded transfusions obviously would help.
Another way is to better educate donors about what is possible.
Ironically, the UTMB blood bank has enough donors — it just doesn’t have enough donations. A healthy person can give blood every other month — or six times a year. The average donor gives twice a year.
In round numbers, roughly 5,000 donors give 10,000 units of blood to the UTMB blood bank each year. If the average donor increased his giving from two to six times a year, the pressure on the blood supply would be relieved.
Of course, encouraging new donors to make a habit of donating blood regularly also would help.
Our understanding of science is constantly changing. In some cases, this new knowledge demands that we change our habits.
Many of us have given up smoking and changed our diets, at least to some extent, in light of new information. This study suggests that it’s time for all of us to think about our role in donating blood.