How is the blood used? Uses of blood and blood products

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In Nigeria, voluntary unpaid donors are either insignificant or negligible. However, start talking about blood in a room of young and strong people, and almost everyone in the room is in on the conversation, some with questions and others with answers: have you given blood before? Do you know your blood type? How many times do you give blood in a year?

The question then is why are voluntary unpaid donors still grossly few? Could it be that they do not actually know what all that donated blood is used for? Read on to find out.

Blood components

Blood is a unique kind of bodily fluid. Even though it may look like it, it is not absolutely red. When we talk about blood in the proportion of its constituent, it is actually more yellowish, it appears red because of the red blood cells in it. Blood has these 4 major components:

1. The plasma is the liquid portion of blood in which the blood cells and proteins are suspended. It accounts for roughly 55% of the blood volume in the body.
2. The Red blood cells which gives the blood its colour and has the responsibility of transporting respiratory gasses particularly oxygen and carbon dioxide.
3. The White blood cells are a component of your immune system that keep infections out of your body, they move through your tissues and bloodstream and combat any foreign organisms that enter your body in response to disease or damage.
4. Platelets are tiny, colourless cell fragments that form clots to stop bleeding and are produced by our bone marrow.

Our blood functions by transporting oxygen and nutrients, it carries antibodies that fight infection, regulates our body temperature and carries waste products to parts such as the kidneys and liver where blood is purified and the wastes excreted.

Blood products

Any therapeutic material made from human blood, such as plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs) and whole blood as well as other blood components for transfusion, is referred to as a blood product. Every year, as documented by WHO, millions of lives are improved and saved thanks to safe, efficient, and quality-assured blood products.

Are blood components and blood products the same?

Blood components and blood products differ in the sense that one is a derivative of the other. Blood products are made from the components of blood.

Did you know? Not every product is made from a single unit of blood that was donated. For instance, plasma from numerous donors may be combined to generate clotting factors and immunoglobulins.

What do you give when you donate blood?

When you give blood, you give what is called whole blood which can then be separated into any of the blood products depending on the kind of blood donation required at that point in time.

Whole blood: it is the most popular kind of blood donation, it includes giving platelets, red and white blood cells, plasma, antibodies, and other components. Since it can be transfused in its original state or divided into its component parts, it benefits many recipients. Less processing is needed when whole blood donations are required for patient transfusion.

Blood products made from whole blood

Red blood cells: They are responsible for the blood's unique colour. Two to three droplets of blood contain roughly one billion red blood cells. The Red Cross refers to RBC donations as "Power Red." Whole blood is processed to make red blood cells by extracting the plasma (which is the liquid part of the blood). So, when only the red blood cells are needed, you donate whole blood, the plasma is removed and what is left and used are the red blood cells.

Platelets: these are tiny, colorless pieces of cell found in human blood that are primarily responsible for adhering to the blood vessel lining and preventing bleeding. We produce platelets in our bone marrow. A centrifuge (machine) can be used to extract the platelet-rich plasma from donated whole blood in order to manufacture platelets. After that, many donors' platelets are mixed to create a single transfusion-ready unit. An alternative is the use of an apheresis machine which is not yet prevalent in Nigeria, the machine can be used to extract platelets. It functions by dividing the blood into its constituent parts, keeps some platelets, and returns your remaining blood into your body. By employing this method, a single donor can provide more platelets from a single blood donation. Donors of platelets are always needed because they must be used within five days of donation.

Granulocytes: They are a particular kind of white blood cell that surrounds and eliminates invasive germs and viruses to prevent illness. Granulocytes are used in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections.

Plasma: The liquid component of blood is called plasma, and as our red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets circulate throughout our bodies, they are suspended in it. Blood plasma performs a number of vital tasks for our bodies. They are produced by removing the liquid component of blood from the cells. Plasma is frozen to preserve the important clotting factors within 24 hours following donation.

Uses of the blood products

Majorly, blood products are utilized clinically and non clinically.

Clinical use of donated blood

Blood transfusion A patient receives donated blood or blood components during a blood transfusion via a line inserted into the patient's vein.

Blood provided for non clinical use

Every donated blood is intended for blood transfusion. However, donations may occasionally not be appropriate for transfusion, and some are often retained for safety inspections and testing. There are a few non-clinical uses for blood that are unsuitable for clinical transfusion:

Donated blood for medical research Donated blood is necessary for research experts to test newly developed treatments, medicines and to look into the causes of blood-related disorders.

Training and education Training and education are essential for all facets of blood safety. It is done with the approval of a legitimate institution and typically as part of an accredited course or training program

Production of blood test kits and their reagents In the production of blood test kits and reagents, the accuracy of these test kits and reagents can be tested with the use of non transfusable blood.

Some countries use blood in the training of police dogs The training team looks to test if the presence of even minute amounts of blood during training sessions will cause the dogs to get distracted or cover up any victim scents that the dogs have been trained to identify.

Something worth considering

Every blood given is precious. Whether clinically used or not. Every time you donate blood, you are given the opportunity of becoming somebody's lifeline.