Donating Blood May Save Your Own Life
Medical Doctor Discusses Surprising Help for Conditions as Diverse as Heart Disease, Cancer and Alzheimer's
PITTSBURGH: You may be able to lower your blood pressure, decrease your risk of heart attack and cancer, and avoid Alzheimer's disease by becoming a regular blood donor. This is one of the key messages coming from physician and researcher, David DeRose, MD, MPH, at the Prevention 2019 Conference.
Prevention 2019, sponsored by the American College of Preventive Medicine, has drawn leading health experts to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for this annual meeting that runs through Thursday, May 23. Dr. DeRose's featured research demonstrates how an understanding of the benefits of blood donation may help to avert a potential crisis that is looming over America's blood supply.
DeRose observes, "Some projections suggest that we're set to face a blood shortage in the U.S. Part of the reason for this is that a significant portion of regular blood donors are over 50 years of age. As these individuals die or their health deteriorates, they will drop out of the donor pool. Additionally, we have not done as well historically with recruiting blood donors from U.S. minorities. Unless we can do better, this will further stress our blood supply since minority populations constitute a substantially larger percentage of those under age 40 years."
At the Prevention 2019 conference, Dr. DeRose shared pilot data on how a single lecture that featured the potential personal benefits of blood donation resulted in over 40% of never-donors making plans to donate blood. An additional incentive, offered during the pilot lecture, was a promise to all attendees who attempted to donate blood within the next month: they would receive a free copy of Dr. DeRose's new book, "The Methuselah Factor: Learn How to Live Sharper, Leaner, Longer, and Better—in Thirty Days or Less."
"The Methuselah Factor" book was a fitting incentive. It complemented DeRose's lecture content, showing how blood donation and other healthy lifestyle practices can improve blood fluidity (technically called "hemorheology")—and thus help improve physical and mental performance, decrease the risk of many diseases, and help reverse other conditions.
When asked about the book's title, Dr. DeRose explains,"The Methuselah Factor is the term I use for hemorheology. The name is derived from the longest-lived character in the ancient Scriptures, whom I'm convinced must have had very good blood fluidity in view of his longevity."
