151356 Health benefits of reducing body iron as a motivational tool for improving voluntary blood donation

Tuesday, November 6, 2007: 2:50 PM

S. Sathyabhama , Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Division of Blood Transfusion Services, thiruvananthapuram, India
Jaisy Mathai, Scientist G , Blood Transfusion Services, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Pallickadavil Vasu Sulochana, Scientist G , Blood Transfusion Services, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Vimal Sathyan, Scientific asst , Transfusion Medicine, Tata memorial center. Advanced center for Treatment,Research, and Education in Cancer, Mumbai, India
background: Possible toxic effects of iron stores have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several common diseases including malignancy,neurodegenerative disorders,diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis.Controlled iron deprivation has shown to have beneficial effects in the outcome of these disease states.Iron deprivation appears to be more efficient and more feasible than any other classical antioxidant therapy.Phlebotomy is known to be safe and an effective means of reducing iron stores. If healthy adults volunteer to donate blood to reduce iron levels,it will be a boon to transfusion services,especially in countries like India where there is a huge gap between demand and supply of blood. Methods and results: Hundred numbers each of healthy adult males who have not donated blood,patients with coronary disease and regular blood donors were included in the study. Total serum iron,serum ferritin, and total iron binding capacity were estimated.percentage of transferrin saturation was calculated.Statistical analysis of the results were done. conclusion:Iron accumulates as age advances in the adult male population of the state.Substantial reduction of iron levels can be achieved by regular blood donation.Hence regular blood donation can be used as a motivational tool for health promotion and disease prevention.This will help us to augment our donor base.

Learning Objectives:
To asses baseline iron levels in healthy adult males who have not donated blood,patients with coronary artery disease and regular blood donors. To develop a strategy to encourage voluntary blood donation by highlighting the beneficial effects of reduced iron levels.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
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I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.