WHO Wants Us To Donate Blood Following German Scientist Karl Landsteiner In History Today, 14 June 2004

JAKARTA - Every June 14, we commemorate World Blood Donor Day. World Blood Donor Day is an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to spread awareness about the importance of blood donation.

World Blood Donor Day also recognizes the contribution of voluntary unpaid blood donations to save many lives. Today is also a thank you to everyone who regularly donates blood.

According to WHO, many developing countries face severe blood shortages. "The need for blood is universal, but access to blood for all who need it is not," he added.

Regular, voluntary and unpaid blood donation is an act of solidarity and is needed worldwide. World Blood Donor Day is a very important day of awareness.

Countries around the world are taking part in this campaign to emphasize the importance of safe blood donation and why healthy people should actually donate blood. Usually blood donors are held in schools, institutions, and workplaces.

People are informed and reassured that the blood donation process will be safe and can contribute to saving someone's life. Blood donation is also believed to help research.

Non-profit organizations and related services create materials, such as posters, banners, and pamphlets to distribute and educate people about blood donation. According to PMI, there are several conditions before donating blood.

First, physically and mentally healthy. Then the donor must be 17 to 65 years old, with a minimum weight of 45 kilograms.

In addition, the donor must also have a systolic blood pressure of 100-170 and a diastolic blood pressure of 70-100. The donor's hemoglobin level should be 12.5g% to 17.0g%.

The donor interval is at least 12 weeks or three months since the previous blood donation and a maximum of five times in two years.

In addition to blood recipients, blood donors are also beneficial for donors. According to dr. Robert DeSimone, chief of transfusion medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, said that regular blood donation is associated with reduced blood pressure and the risk of heart attack.

"It definitely helps reduce cardiovascular risk factors," says Dr. DeSimone, citing Healthy Matters, Monday, June 14.

What is the relation? "If your hemoglobin is too high, donating blood helps lower blood viscosity, which has been linked to blood clot formation, heart attacks, and strokes," says Dr. DeSimone.

“Interestingly, this benefit was more significant in men than women. We think maybe it's because women have menstrual cycles, so they do it naturally without donating blood."

In addition, people donate blood because they feel happy to be able to help others. Altruism and volunteerism have been associated with positive health outcomes, including a lower risk of depression and a longer life.

“Donating blood is a way to get involved in an immediate community and help those around you,” said dr. Sarah Vossoughi, medical director of apheresis and assistant director of transfusion medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

"People who do these kinds of things and engage in their communities in this way tend to have better health and longer lives."

In addition, by regularly donating blood a person can maintain a healthy liver. The amount of iron that is too much has an effect on non-alcoholic fatty liver.

With blood donation, the amount of iron is reduced in the body. That is, non-alcoholic fatty liver can be prevented so that liver health is maintained.

World Blood Donor Day was first observed by WHO in 2004. This commemoration was declared as an annual global event at the 58th World Health Assembly in 2005.

June 14 was chosen as Blood Donor Day because it is the birthday of the Austrian immunologist and pathologist Karl Landsteiner. His discovery of blood types and how safe blood transfusions are, brought great advances in science.

But before Karl Landsteiner, there was a figure who was the first to donate blood. However, the first blood transfusion was performed using poorly understood science and resulted in some tragic outcomes for the patient.

Richard Lower was the first to examine animals and blood circulation and find a way to stop blood clotting. At that time he discovered the concept of blood transfusion when he succeeded in flowing blood from one dog to another who was sick at the time.

Both dogs recovered without any side effects. He gained considerable fame for his efforts and was asked to speak and teach the technique to the Royal Society.

There were some strange beliefs about blood at that time, until finally doing the first human blood transfusion by transfused sheep blood to humans who experienced madness. It was thought that perhaps the blood of a creature as gentle as a lamb could help calm his madness.

The act of transferring animal blood to humans is highly questionable. Eventually the practice was outlawed, disappearing for 150 years.

Citing National Today, then obstetrician James Nlundell returned to transfuse blood to modern medical technology, starting in 1818. He managed to save the life of a woman who was bleeding profusely after giving birth and published a work on how it was done.

Throughout his life, he performed ten transfusions, five of which saved the recipient's life. Citing Britannica, in 1901, Karl Landsteiner published his discovery of the human ABO blood group system.

At the time, although it was known that mixing the blood of two individuals could result in blood clots, the mechanism underlying this phenomenon was not understood. Landsteiner discovered the cause of clotting as an immunological reaction that occurs when antibodies are produced by the host against donated blood cells.

This immune response arises because the blood of different individuals can vary with respect to a particular antigen located on the surface of red blood cells. Then Landsteiner identified the three antigens, which were labeled A, B, and C (later changed to O).

A fourth blood group, later named AB, was identified the following year. With this discovery, Landsteiner showed that if a person having a blood type, A for example, receives blood from an individual with a different blood type, such as B, the host's immune system will not recognize the B antigen on the donor's blood cells and thus will be foreign and harmful.

To defend the body against this perceived threat, the host's immune system will produce antibodies against the B antigen and clotting will occur when the antibody binds to the B antigen. Landsteiner's findings enabled blood grouping and thus paved the way for safe blood transfusions.

*Read other information about WORLD HISTORY or read other interesting articles from Putri Ainur Islam.