World Blood Donor Day 2019: 7 Reasons Why You Should Donate Blood

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated to encourage people to donate blood voluntarily. The day is celebrated to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood and also to raise awareness to the need for regular blood donations. This is in order to ensure that all individuals and communities have access to affordable and timely supplies of safe and quality-assured blood and blood products.

While the host country for World Blood Donor Day 2019 is Rwanda, people all around the world should come forward to take the initiative of donating blood to the needy.

If You are Still Having Doubts about Donating Blood, Here are a Few Reasons that Might Help you:

1. Lower risk of heart disease: Blood donation may lower the risk of heart disease and heart attack. This is because it reduces the blood’s viscosity, significantly lowering the mean total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, protecting against cardiovascular disease.

2. Free health checkup: In order to give blood, you’re required to undergo a health screening. These tests include hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, West Nile virus, syphilis and Trypanosoma cruzi, which in turn provide a free blood check-up to you.

3. Lower risk of cancer: Blood donation helps in lowering the risk of cancer, as donating blood regularly balances the iron level in the blood, thus lowering the risk of cancer-related to the liver, lungs, and intestine.

4. Produces new blood cells: When we donate blood, the level of blood reduces in our body. To cope up with it, the body new blood cells, thus helping up in maintaining good health.

5. Lower risk of Hemochromatosis: The increased absorption of iron by the body might lead to hemochromatosis. Blood donation reduces the iron overload in the body, balances the iron level and prevents Hemochromatosis.

6. Reduces weight: Overweight and obese people are advised to donate blood at regular intervals, as it helps in weight loss and burns fat up to 650 calories.

7. Saves life: Blood is one of the key components of the living body. Donating blood would keep abundant storage of blood, thus helping the needy as and when requires.