So I gave 0.5 liter of blood during my lunch hour today. In downtown Vancouver, the donation clinic is located at 888 Dunsmuir and it is administered by Canadian Blood Services.
Part of the screening procedure involves checking if you have enough iron (ferritin) in your blood, taking your resting heart rate and blood pressure. My resting heart rate was 52 bpm with a blood pressure of 112/54 (machine read not manual). This is low for my age and as a marker for cardiovascular health, it is better than having high blood pressure. Prior to my weight loss, I was borderline high at 130/80.
Although some Paleo adherents use blood donation to simulate blood loss on the battlefield, I don't subscribe to the re-enactment school of thought. I donate blood simply because it might save a life. There is some research which indicates blood-letting reduces iron in the blood which in turn lowers blood sugar which I consider to be a side benefit to donating blood.
Victor
Very useful info. Hope to see more posts soon! written codes of ethics for health care practitioners
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