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MacRumors 2016 Blood Drive

I think it great everyone doing this.
I guess Arnie having been a medic helps make this happen & understands how it all works?
A few queries-

• Do the UK discriminate over gay mens blood like in the US?
• How many ml of blood do they take & how long does the body take to replenish the blood given. ie how long to you have to wait before donating again.
• Is this just US or UK too?
• Someone mentioned a live donor of a kidney. I have two heathy kidneys, I only need one so if I wanted to save a life is it fairly staight forward just phone the NHS (UK)...I'm not saying I'm phoning on Tuesday to do this I just curious how it works & if its allowed in the UK.
cheers
 
As a O-NEG blood type, I am a universal donor. I donate Double Red cells, which is double what most people donate in a single appointment. I donate 3 times a year, which is the maximum I am allowed to donate under the current rules. I have been donating for over 10 years now and will continue to donate for as long as I am able. There is still no substitute for real human blood, so anyone who can donate, should donate.
 
ianogorman said:
It's discrimination - basically
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True. But the question is whether this discrimination is justifiable. If the facts have not changed (hence my question earlier), then it is still the case that men who have had sex with men are excluded, because they are considered a risk group. It certainly is discrimination, but if it happens for a specific reason that is directly related to what you are trying to achieve, namely collecting as much healthy blood as possible, then I think that it is justified. Given that there just is no reliable and cost-effective way to detect STIs at the point when you are giving blood and that men who have sex with men have a higher chance to get certain STIs, particularly HIV, then the cost/benefits may favour exclusion. I cannot say whether the facts are still true or whether it has changed, but that was the main reason. I was rejected multiple times for similar reasons, due to travelling to areas where the risk of infection was higher. I really do not feel being treated unfairly, I understand that it is not personal or political.
 
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DrArroganto said:
As a O-NEG blood type, I am a universal donor. I donate Double Red cells, which is double what most people donate in a single appointment. I donate 3 times a year, which is the maximum I am allowed to donate under the current rules. I have been donating for over 10 years now and will continue to donate for as long as I am able. There is still no substitute for real human blood, so anyone who can donate, should donate.
Click to expand...
I'd donate for this drive, but because I donate double reds, I'm not eligible until July..
 
Hmm... They don't want my blood, yet I am registered as an organ donor on my drivers license. Something tells me they wouldn't care if I had sex with a man within 12 months if somebody needed my heart immediately. I what the policy is with that. Time to Google.
 
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bpp85 said:
I'm not homophobic at all, but i guess these days everything is labeled as such. When i got a tattoo i had to wait a year before i could give blood again. It wasn't tattoophobic. It's about risks and they are trying to reduce them through certain rules.
Click to expand...

Who cares about the rules, it is discrimination and that is all that matters. End of story. :D

myrtlebee said:
Hmm... They don't want my blood, yet I am registered as an organ donor on my drivers license. Something tells me they wouldn't care if I had sex with a man within 12 months if somebody needed my heart immediately. I what the policy is with that. Time to Google.
Click to expand...

Organs are much rarer to obtain and excluding people even from risk groups might be far more harmful. The chance is already very low that your organs will be used at all.
 
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I was told that because I was in Europe, and ate their yogurt, and other meats and cheeses, that I can't give blood anymore.

I can't figure it out. The meats and dairy in this country are more suspect than 'over there', yet I can't give blood? Whatever...

The last time I gave blood I had a bruise up and down my arm for nearly two weeks! She spent so much time trying to 'find the vessel', I thought she was looking for the Titanic!!!
 
I can't donate in Australia as I grew up in the UK and ate beef there in the 80s :(
 
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