Thursday, January 01, 2009

My New Year's resolution

I don't usually buy into New Year's resolutions. Any time of the year is the right time to start or avoid self improvement. But this year I'm going to try to donate 24 units of blood platelets by pheresis this year, the maximum a person is legally allowed to donate during a calender year. So in this case, the best time to start is in January.

I have AB+ blood. The Red Cross recommends that people with AB+ blood donate platelets rather than whole blood for the following reasons:
1. Only 2% of the population has AB+ blood.
2. Only people with AB+ blood can receive it in a transfusion.
3. People with AB+ blood can receive blood from almost anyone with type A, B, and AB blood, so it isn't very critical that bloodbanks carry a supply of AB+ blood.

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