Hey Mayberrians,
So, I donated two pints of blood today, (O negative...alien blood baby!). While I was being drained of my life-force I talked to the phlebotomist about the shelf life of erythrocytes. She said that as far as she knew, we could freeze plasma to prolong its life but after roughly 45 days, red blood cells break down and are no good after a certain point. She did not know of any ways to prolong their life that are not very expensive. A decent percentage of donated blood gets thrown out.
She said that if a method was discovered that cheaply preserved erythrocytes, a lot more lives would be saved and the blood shortage problem would subside substantially.
Now, my question for you sherdoggers is: Do any of you know anything about the current process of extending red blood cell life? I know I am going to catch shit about asking about this subject on an MMA forum but I am having a hard time finding information about this ANYWHERE and I am trying to set up interviews with some people in the biomedical field but I can't necessarily rely on that. Basically, I am searching wherever I can for info on the subject.
Any help would be appreciated very much.
Thank you,
mikestroman19
So, I donated two pints of blood today, (O negative...alien blood baby!). While I was being drained of my life-force I talked to the phlebotomist about the shelf life of erythrocytes. She said that as far as she knew, we could freeze plasma to prolong its life but after roughly 45 days, red blood cells break down and are no good after a certain point. She did not know of any ways to prolong their life that are not very expensive. A decent percentage of donated blood gets thrown out.
She said that if a method was discovered that cheaply preserved erythrocytes, a lot more lives would be saved and the blood shortage problem would subside substantially.
Now, my question for you sherdoggers is: Do any of you know anything about the current process of extending red blood cell life? I know I am going to catch shit about asking about this subject on an MMA forum but I am having a hard time finding information about this ANYWHERE and I am trying to set up interviews with some people in the biomedical field but I can't necessarily rely on that. Basically, I am searching wherever I can for info on the subject.
Any help would be appreciated very much.
Thank you,
mikestroman19