Persuasive Essay: The Benefits Of Donating Blood

When asked about donating blood, the most common answer or reaction from people is that they’re scared of needles. Nonetheless, others do provide a variety of excuses to get out of donating blood whenever they can. Donating blood is an hour long process that commences the second someone steps through the door, but the phlebotomy itself takes only ten minutes. Though blood donation includes a rather large, 17 gauge needle, one pint of blood from a donor can save up to, not only one but three lives. What most people in the United States don’t know is that it’s estimated that 38% of the population is eligible to donate blood, but only 10% of those people actually do donate blood. The American Red Cross states that every two seconds a person in

Many articles have published the same health benefits such as maintaining a healthy liver. The liver in the human body filters blood but, when there’s an excess of iron in the body, it begins to absorb the excess iron, therefore, causing liver failure. Donating blood, as mentioned before, reduces the high iron levels in a person, hence, preventing liver failure to maintain a healthy organ. One other commonly benefit mentioned in many articles is that donating blood can give the donor a free, brief check-up. When a person decides to donate blood, they must go through a series of health questions and tests to see if they’re qualified to donate. Some tests that a phlebotomists performs are: a hemoglobin test, to see if the donor has normal iron levels; a blood pressure test, to see if the donor has normal blood pressure; and they also take the donor’s temperature to detect if they have a fever or not. After donating the blood, the American Red Cross then proceed to do other tests with small vials of blood they’ve collected during the donation process. With these small vials, the blood donated will be tested for infectious diseases; such as Hepatitis B and C, HIV, Syphilis, etc; that can possible transmit to another person if infected blood was given to a patient. Another great benefit is that blood donation may help the blood flow through the veins and arteries flow more smoothly. In the article, 4 Unexpected Benefits of Donating Blood, Phillip DeChristopher, M.D., P.h.D., stated that “If blood has a high viscosity, or resistance to flow, it will flow like molasses” (Swalin). High viscosity causes blood to flow slower through the arteries, therefore, causing decreased oxygen flow to parts of the body. This resistance of blood flow in the body is caused by having too many red blood cells in the bloodstream, which can cause seizures,