I didn’t realize that donations were sufficient for usage. Is this barely maintained by calling people when blood supplies are low, or does blood regularly get thrown out, or is there some other reason that supplies closely match need?
A combination of the above. We have a core group of donors who can be called in emergency situations, we increase the intensity of blood drives when supplies are low, we reduce marginally-beneficial uses of blood when supplies become low, and we are better able to discard the oldest least-effective blood whenever supplies increase.
We are likely to face challenges in meeting future need. The cohort that most regularly donates blood is aging...
I’m assuming you are from the US, do you think the same is true for other countries? Also which demographic are you referring too?
I’m more interested in the cohort that isn’t aging. What is their secret? A new and improved Calorie Restricted diet? Perhaps that explains their inability to generate sufficient excess blood for donation.
Thanks, this is exceptionally informative.
I didn’t realize that donations were sufficient for usage. Is this barely maintained by calling people when blood supplies are low, or does blood regularly get thrown out, or is there some other reason that supplies closely match need?
A combination of the above. We have a core group of donors who can be called in emergency situations, we increase the intensity of blood drives when supplies are low, we reduce marginally-beneficial uses of blood when supplies become low, and we are better able to discard the oldest least-effective blood whenever supplies increase.
We are likely to face challenges in meeting future need. The cohort that most regularly donates blood is aging...
I’m assuming you are from the US, do you think the same is true for other countries? Also which demographic are you referring too?
I’m more interested in the cohort that isn’t aging. What is their secret? A new and improved Calorie Restricted diet? Perhaps that explains their inability to generate sufficient excess blood for donation.
They could also be brain uploads, which would also explain the inability.
Good point. I wonder if they would consider donating CPU time instead!