Essay On Blood Transfusion

Blood Transfusion History Blood transfusions was one of the most important occurrences in history. A “blood transfusion is a medical treatment that replaces blood lost through injury, surgery, or disease. The blood goes through a tube from a bag to an intravenous (IV) catheter and into your vein” (Blood Transfusion). Thinking of another person’s blood into a whole different person’s body seems pretty dangerous since everyone is different. On the other hand, a blood transfusion today is very safe, “carefully tested, and tracked” (Blood Transfusion). Around 1628, William Harvey, a british physician, figured out the circulation of our blood in our bodies. Following that during the 1900s, the different types of blood was revealed by Karl Landsteiner (History of Blood Types). There are four blood types: A, B, AB, and O. With every blood type, it’s either positive or negative depending on the presence of the Rh factor. A patient with the blood type A makes antibodies against blood type B. Meaning that if a patient with blood type A receive blood type B, it will cause that patient’s blood to clump up. A patient with blood type B makes antibodies against blood type A. A patient with the blood type AB doesn’t make any antibodies but have both antigens for A and B. Lastly, a patient with blood type O makes antibodies for both A and B. Therefore

There are two ways to have donor blood during a transfusion. The first approach is volunteer blood. This is where blood is collected from a community. The volunteers are anonymous to the person receiving the blood. The second approach is a designated donor blood. This occurs when the patient wants a certain donor’s blood. The patient chooses the donor, and the donor’s blood will be checked for diseases and type. With these methods, there are risks to donor’s blood: “disease transmission, such as hepatitis and AIDS, and allergic reactions”