Blood is a constantly circulating fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates providing the body with nutrition, oxygen, and waste removal. It is mostly liquid, with numerous cells and proteins suspended in it, making blood “thicker” than pure water. Blood is made up of liquid and solids. The liquid part, called plasma, is made of water, salts, and protein. Over half (approximately 55%) of our blood is plasma which is mostly water (92% by volume), and contains proteins, glucose, mineral ions, hormones, carbon dioxide (plasma being the main medium for excretory product transportation), and blood cells themselves. In plasma Albumin is the main protein, and it functions to regulate the colloidal osmotic pressure of blood. The blood cells are mainly red blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes), white blood cells (also called WBCs or leukocytes) and platelets (also called thrombocytes).The most abundant cells in vertebrate blood are red blood cells.These contain hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein, which facilitates oxygen transport by reversibly binding to this respiratory gas thereby increasing its solubility in blood. In contrast, carbon dioxide is mostly transported extracellularly as bicarbonate ion transported in plasma.The solid part of our blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The average person has about 5 liters (more than a gallon) of blood. Blood has many different functions, including: transporting oxygen and nutrients to the lungs and tissues, forming blood clots to prevent excess blood loss, carrying cells and antibodies that fight infection, bringing waste products to the kidneys and liver, which filter and clean the blood and regulating body temperature.There are 4 main blood groups (types of blood) – A, B, AB and O. Our blood group is determined by the genes we inherit from our parents. Each group can be either RhD positive or RhD negative, which means in total there are 8 blood groups. It is reported that Vertebrate blood is bright red when its hemoglobin is oxygenated and dark red when it is deoxygenated. It is noticed that some animals, such as crustaceans and mollusks, use hemocyanin to carry oxygen, instead of hemoglobin whereas insects and some mollusks use a fluid called hemolymph instead of blood, the difference being that hemolymph is not contained in a closed circulatory system. Further, in most insects, this “blood” does not contain oxygen-carrying molecules such as hemoglobin because their bodies are small enough for their tracheal system to suffice for supplying oxygen. The Jawed vertebrates have an adaptive immune system, based largely on white blood cells and white blood cells help to resist infections and parasites. We know Platelets are important in the clotting of blood. Arthropods, using hemolymph, have hemocytes as part of their immune system. The blood is circulated around the body through blood vessels by the pumping action of the heart. The main parts of the blood circulatory system are: (a) Heart: the pump that forces blood throughout your blood vessels (b) Arteries: carry blood away from the heart, deliver nutrients and oxygen to the organs and tissues (c) Veins: carry blood back to the heart, removes carbon dioxide and waste products from body tissues by bringing them to appropriate organs to be removed from body (d) Capillaries: moves substances into and out of the blood. In animals with lungs, arterial blood carries oxygen from inhaled air to the tissues of the body, and venous blood carries carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism produced by cells, from the tissues to the lungs to be exhaled.Medical terms related to blood often begin with hemo- or hemato- (also spelled haemo- and haemato-) from the Greek word αἷμα (haima) for “blood”. In terms of anatomy and histology, blood is considered a specialized form of connective tissue, given its origin in the bones and the presence of potential molecular fibers in the form of fibrinogen. Blood accounts for 7% of the human body weight, with an average density around 1060 kg/m3, very close to pure water’s density of 1000 kg/m. The average adult has a blood volume of roughly 5 litres (11 US pt) or 1.3 gallons, which is composed of plasma and formed elements. The formed elements are the two types of blood cell or corpuscle – the red blood cells, (erythrocytes) and white blood cells (leukocytes), and the cell fragments called platelets that are involved in clotting. By volume, the red blood cells constitute about 45% of whole blood, the plasma about 54.3%, and white cells about 0.7%.Whole blood (plasma and cells) exhibits non-Newtonian fluid dynamics.
The major religions of the world support Blood, organ donation and transplantation. All Christians are encouraged to become organ, blood and tissue donors “as part of their religious duty. A small group of people belonging to a certain religion, called Jehovah’s witness do not accept blood transfusion or blood products, based on biblical readings. Allah Almighty honored man; He favored him over the rest of His creation and prohibited him from inflicting harm on himself or violating the sanctity of his body. Moreover, one of the objectives of Islamic law is the preservation of the self. Allah Almighty says, And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference [al-Isra’: 70].Among the manifestations of Allah’s favor upon man, is that He created him in the best and most beautiful form; indeed it is a bounty from Allah Almighty. He says: We created man in the finest shape [al-Teen: 4]The human body is a trust for which man is responsible and therefore it is impermissible to tamper with it. Islamic law commands him to protect himself and his body from any harm and prohibits encroaching upon human life in any way. He says:”Do not contribute to your destruction with your own hands, but do good, for Allah loves those who do good,” [al-Baqarah: 195]”Do not contribute to your destruction with your own hands, but do good, for Allah loves those who do good,” [al-Baqarah: 195]And,”Do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.” [an-Nisa: 29].Islamic guides us that it is obligatory to seek treatment. Abu Huraira narrated that the Messenger of Allah [pbuh] said:”O servants of Allah! Seek medical treatment, because Allah did not make a disease without making a cure for it save old age” [Bukhari and Muslim]. In another phrasing of the hadith, the Prophet [pbuh] says: “Allah did not make a disease without making a cure for it, save death.” Religious scholars are of the opinion that it is permissible to donate blood if qualified trustworthy physicians determine the following: (i) It will save the recipient from certain harm.• It must not harm the donor’s health or quality of life (ii) The above conditions fall under the permissibly of saving another’s life and altruism as attested to by the Qur`anic verses:”They give them [those who migrated] preference over themselves [dwellers of Madianh], even if they too are poor. And whoever is saved from the greed of his soul then they are the successful.” [al-Hashr: 9] Blood donations are based on the analogy of saving people from drowning, burning or being buried under a collapsed building all of which involve the potential harm of the person trying to save them.Allah Almighty says: “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” [al-Maida: 2] Allah rewards the legally competent and healthy person who donates his blood to save another. He will either raise his rank or forgive him his bad deeds. The Prophet [pbuh] said: “Whoever relieves the distress of a person in this life, Allah will relieve him of a distress on the Day of Judgment; whoever facilitates a Muslim’s difficulty, Allah will facilitate his difficulties in this world and in the Hereafter; whoever conceals the faults of Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah will help whoever helps a fellow Muslim” [Abu Dawud].There is no objection to donating blood. However, the following conditions must be observed before donating: 1. The existence of an overwhelming necessity such as donating blood to the victims of accidents and catastrophes, and for those undergoing surgery. 2. Blood donations must be of benefit and prevent harm.3. Physicians must determine that such a donation will not prevent the donor from pursuing his life in a normal manner. 4. Medical tests must prove that the donor is free from diseases. This is because of the legal axiom “Harm is not to be removed by another”. 5. The donor must be legally competent.There are several parameters that determine the eligibility of an individual to donate blood. Guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Health, Government of India have to be followed by blood banks for donor screening. World Blood Donor Day is observed on 14 June each year around the world. The Day was created to:raise global awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products for transfusion;highlight the critical contribution voluntary, unpaid blood donors make to national health systems;support national blood transfusion services, blood donor organizations and other nongovernmental organizations in strengthening and expanding their voluntary blood donor programmes by reinforcing national and local campaigns.The day also provides an opportunity to call to action governments and national health authorities to provide adequate resources to increase the collection of blood from voluntary, unpaid blood donors and to manage access to blood and the transfusion of those who require it.Blood and blood products are essential resources for effective management of women suffering from bleeding associated with pregnancy and childbirth; children suffering from severe anaemia due to malaria and malnutrition; patients with blood and bone marrow disorders, inherited disorders of haemoglobin and immune deficiency conditions; victims of trauma, emergencies, disasters and accidents; as well as patients undergoing advanced medical and surgical procedures. The need for blood is universal, but access to blood for all those who need it is not. Blood shortages are particularly acute in low- and middle-income countries.To ensure that everyone who needs transfusion has access to safe blood, all countries need voluntary, unpaid blood donors who give blood regularly to the needy. An effective blood donor programme, characterized by wide and active participation of the population, is crucial in meeting the need of blood transfusion during peace time as well as during emergencies or disasters, when there is a surge in demand for blood or when the normal operation of blood services is affected. While an enabling social and cultural atmosphere with strong solidarity facilitates development of an effective blood donor programme, it is also widely acknowledged that the act of blood donation contributes to generating social ties and building a united community.For year 2022, the World Blood Donor Day slogan is “Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Join the effort and save lives” to draw attention to the roles that voluntary blood donations play in saving lives and enhancing solidarity within communities.The specific objectives of this year’s campaign are to:thank blood donors in the world and create wider public awareness of the need for regular, unpaid blood donation;highlight the need for committed, year-round blood donation, to maintain adequate supplies and achieve universal and timely access to safe blood transfusion;recognize and promote the values of voluntary unpaid blood donation in enhancing community solidarity and social cohesion;raise awareness of the need for increased investment from governments to build a sustainable and resilient national blood system and increase collection from voluntary non-remunerated blood donors.
A particular activity that countries in the world are encouraged to implement for this year’s campaign is to disseminate to various media outlets stories of people whose lives have been saved through blood donation as a way of motivating regular blood donors to continue giving blood, and to motivate people in good health who have never given blood to begin doing so.Other activities that would help promote the slogan of this year’s World Blood Donor Day may include donor appreciation ceremonies, social networking campaigns, special media broadcasts, social media posts featuring individual blood donors with the slogan, meetings and workshops, musical and artistic events to thank blood donors and celebrate solidarity, and colouring iconic monuments red.Your involvement and support will help to ensure greater impact for World Blood Donor Day 2022, increasing recognition worldwide that giving blood is a life-saving act of solidarity and that services providing safe blood and blood products are an essential element of every health care system. Participation of interested partners is welcome at all levels to make World Blood Donor Day 2022 a global success. This year Mexico will host World Blood Donor Day 2022 through its National Blood Centre. The global event will be held in Mexico City on 14 June 2022.“Blood is one of the most important resources while performing any surgery. There are many surprising benefits of blood donation. The researchers report that donating a point of blood i.e., 450 ml helps human body to to burn about 650 calories, It can lower the risk of hemochromatosis, reduce heart disease risk, lower cancer risk and enhance new blood cell production. Our body’s system gets to work within 48 hours of blood donation with the help of bone marrow new blood cells are produced and all the lost Red blood cells are replaced within a span of 30 to 60 days. Clearly, donating blood helps in maintaining vital health. Let us donate blood to make it successful. Happy World Blood Donor Day.”
(The authors write on social and environmental issues exclusively for “Kashmir Horizon”. Views are their own)
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