The inconspicuous health benefit of blood donation

Background and Objectives: Regular blood donations seem to be beneficial to the health of donors in many ways. There is evidence to suggest that blood donation lowers blood viscosity and alters lipid profile, which is an acceptable parameter for assessing the risk of coronary heart disease. The objective of this study was to assess the pattern in changes of lipid profiles and hematocrit due to blood donation. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, which comprises 289 apparently healthy male blood donors who were recruited as family replacement and nonvoluntary donors. Those who were ineligible for donation were excluded. Fasting venous blood samples were collected serially before phlebotomy, 1 h, 3 days, 6 days, 9 days, and 12 days after phlebotomy. Lipid profile and hematocrit were estimated appropriately. Results: The mean hematocrit, total cholesterol (T-Chol), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-Chol (HDL-C), very low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL-C), and triglycerides before donations were 32 ± 8 years, 0.46 ± 0.05, 5.04 ± 0.81 mmol/l 2.93 ± 0.56 mmol/l 1.35 ± 0.24 mmol/l, 0.76 ± 0.14 mmol/l, and 1.65 ± 0.29 mmol/l, respectively. Postdonation results indicated an increased in HDL-C and decreased in all the remaining parameters with time. There are statistically significant differences between the levels of the HDL-C (P < 0.001), T-Chol: HDL ratio (P < 0.001), LDL-C (P < 0.001), and T-Chol (P < 0.001) before and at 12 days after blood donations. There was also a decrease in VLDL-C (P = 0.061), triglyceride (P = 0.092), and hematocrit values (P = 0.056), which was not statistically significant. Conclusion: These findings indicated that blood donation may be beneficial to donors, on the short term, since there is decreasing serum T-Chol, LDL-C, VLDL-C, and triglycerides and increasing serum HDL-C concentration. Long-term effects need to be determined in this cohort of donors.