Can Donating Blood be Healthy?

"ceniza" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I heard once it was actually good for a middle aged man to
donate blood. Could this be true?

If so, what is the logic behind it?

I think the logic is that iron is bad and donating blood reduces the amount of
iron in your body. As to whether this is correct or not, I don't know. I think
they do recommend that men not take vitamins with iron.

Bill

ceniza said:

I heard once it was actually good for a middle aged man to
donate blood. Could this be true?

About as true as cigarettes aiding the digestion, I suspect.

Quoted message said:

If so, what is the logic behind it?

The only cases in which I've heard of bloodletting of any sort being
healthy are in those of iron overload. Since the blood contains lots
and lots of iron, removing some of it considerably reduces the total
iron load in the body. For people who have disorders that cause them to
accumulate iron in their bodies, this is one simple way of removing
iron.

I'm not aware of any reason why men should not take vitamins with iron.
However, their need for iron is less than that of women, because they do
not lose iron in menstrual blood each month. Women lose a little bit of
iron with each menstrual cycle (for the same reason that bloodletting
lowers the total body iron).

Note that iron is toxic when there is too much of it in the body (for
those reading this thread who don't understand why anyone would want to
get rid of it).

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Too much iron can cause problems. A news article years ago claimed
donaters had fewer heart attacks, but it was rebutted.

"ceniza" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I heard once it was actually good for a middle aged man to
donate blood. Could this be true?

If so, what is the logic behind it?

ceniza said:

I heard once it was actually good for a middle aged man to
donate blood. Could this be true?

If so, what is the logic behind it?

It is a good deed. Men usually have more iron than they need and some
will have more iron than is healthy.

Humbly,

Andrew

--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist
http://www.heartmdphd.com/