Blood from relative not always best, experts say

WHILE many people still believe blood provided immediately and directly by a family member is safest, the truth is that blood from blood banks that has been properly typed and tested is much safer, Shanghai Health Supervision Agency officials said in an educational event held in the city today.
In rare cases, directed blood donations from close relatives can actually lead to transfusion-associated graft versus host disease, a serious complication that can happen when donor blood is considered foreign by the recipient’s immune system.
That is only one of the misunderstandings about clinical blood usage among many members of the public, officials said.
“Many patients think blood transfusions can speed up recovery after operations,” said Yang Lanfu from the agency. “They insist blindly on blood transfusions, which may cause negative effects.”

The event aimed to spread the knowledge of reasonable clinical blood usage among the public. Health authorities hope the event will help people deal with clinical blood usage in the right way.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/l8e26xl