Like blood, you can also donate plasma to the needy people and to the medical research centers. If you are in a good health and follow a healthy lifestyle, then you can donate plasma twice a week. Read this article to get details about blood plasma donation and how frequently can you donate it
Blood plasma is a constituent of blood. It holds 55% of the total volume of the blood. It constitutes 90% water. The rest of the volume contains clotting factors, glucose, hormones, proteins and mineral ions. This is a very important part as it maintains the immune system and supplies nutrition to all the parts of the body. Like blood donation, plasma donation for money has also become very frequent.
Many medical organizations pay a considerable amount of money to the donors. This donated plasma is used for many purposes. It is given to the people who are suffering from immunodeficiency diseases, shock, burns, bleeder’s disease, for newborn infants who have a different blood group from their mother etc. Plasma is also taken for many research and development purposes.
Frequency of Donation
Plasma donation is very safe and the body recovers the plasma very fast. But it is very important to know the time you need to give your body to get back to the normal count. Blood plasma donation centers accept plasma from a healthy person twice in any seven day period.
However, there should be a difference of at least one day between both the donation days. This difference is necessary to maintain the amount of plasma in the blood. If the person maintains good health with a proper healthy diet, then he can donate plasma twice every week. In case you have donated whole blood, you cannot donate plasma for the next eight weeks. It is because the body requires more time to recover whole blood than recovering only plasma.
The process of donating plasma is very simple but it takes more time than the blood donation process. Plasma donation process is also known as ‘plasmapheresis’. Before the donation you need to undergo many medical examinations according to the donation center’s rules and regulations. These tests may take more than 2 hours or so, depending upon the number of tests.
Once you clear all the tests, you will be allowed to go for the plasma donation. The blood is taken from the donor and then, with the help of centrifugation process the plasma is separated from the blood. The plasma is extracted and the rest of the blood is again diffused into the body. The separation process is done with the help of a machine. The machine takes a considerable amount of blood from the body, separates it and then again puts it back into the body.
Although many people donate plasma for money, it helps in saving many lives. The process is considered quite safe and the donor can recover in a very short span.
