h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, does that necessarily mean it is in the blood? But it probably is though.

I rang the helpline and asked them, and they said no. Not if I used steroids every day. Which I have to, or I get very sick and have to go to hospital. Not nice.

What disease is it you have to take steroids for? And does it make you all buff?

buff?

I have asthma.

Muscular.

I haven´t heard about steroids for asthma.

In reference to earlier posts, they should have stopped the discrimination against homosexuals when they renamed GRID. In my opinion at least

DG

I agree with you Dr G.

Going back to organ donation, Grandad Weatherwax has a fear of being buried alive & so has made it very clear that whatever can be used/recycled should be. I've also made it clear to my relatives that I carry a donor card.

Did you know that you can also be excluded from giving blood if you have taken aspirin or Warfarin within a certain time? It's to do with the anti-coagulant effect that these drugs have.

Just used my friendly search engine & there's a very informative site for UK researchers who are interested in giving blood.

FYI, the steroids that make you "buff" are anabolic steroids. The steroids used for asthma are glucocorticoids, and are among the most potent anti-inflammatory medications out there. Glucocorticoids definitely don't make you buff, and can actually slow down growth in children. They are used as topical steroids via inhalation for asthma or rhinitis (nose allergies), or via creams or whatnot for skin inflammation. Oral steroids are used for more severe asthma, and also for many autoimmune diseases.

I've been on a daily inhaled steroid for most of my life, but that never had an impact on my donating blood. They wouldn't let me donate if I'd had oral steroids within the last month, though.


Mikey

In the state of Washington, at least, drivers' licenses have "organ donor" printed on them at the driver's request, presumably the doctor can look there without having to consult next of kin.

IV, whose license says "organ donor"

Illinois also has that but the Doctor still need to ask the next of kin.

I must admit I feel a bit weird about the organ donor thing too, but did it anyway.
That's why I like donating blood; I've got lots of blood, but only one heart.

Also being from the state of Washington, I feel the need to point out that those things on the drivers licenses are there in every state I've ever been in. The only time hospitals can use those to make the decision is if you die in a motor vehicle accident and they are not able to locate your next of kin. Once next of kin is located, whatever they say goes.


Mikey, who still thinks that permission for organ donation should be assumed unless people carry a card or something saying that they *don't* want their organs donated

I think that's very important to give blood and have been doing so since I could (age 18). However I do think that the UK system of an opt in policy should be changed to an opt out policy. This wouldn't force people to give, they could just refuse, but I think that it would prompt a lot more people to go along if they received a summons (wrong word but I couldn't think of a good one) to go to a blood doning session.

The company I work for actually put on a bus 3 times a year for people to go and give blood.

Rama

We had a blood bank bus thing come to my school a couple of years ago - I was too young to donate, but it's a good way to get the message out to the younger kids, especially when they see all the older ones donating.

Where can you sign up to be a bone marrow doner? And waht criteria for donation do they look for?

Rama

To find out how to be a bone marrow donor contact The Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust in the UK (Tel: 020 7 284 1234). They will give you all the information you need. There are certain criteria which have to be met, including a maximum age of of 40 or 45. The best thing to do is to contact them.

Initially you just give a sample of blood. If you look like a potential match for someone needing a bone marrow transplant, they do further tests to see if you are an exact match. The likelyhood of being asked to donate are very slim, but if you are an exact match with someone needing a transplant, you will probably be their only chance - it is well worth doing.

Forgot to mention that, although The Anthony Nolan Trust is based in the UK, the register is available worldwide for the benefit of anyone needing a transplant.

If you are going on holiday to somewhere where malaria and / or hepatitis are common(eg West Africa), give blood BEFORE you go. There's a longish wait after you come back when the agency doesn't want it.

There are lots of exclusions for blood donors in the UK based on sexual activity, but not sexuality. They ask if you're a man who's ever had sex (including safe sex) with another man, a man who's ever had sex with a prostitute, whether you've had sex in Africa (where HIV infection is sky-rocketing) and a few other questions that I can't remember. There are lots of other exclusions: as we've heard people who take steroids shouldn't give blood, nor should those who've taken Human Growth Hormone or who have had CJD in their family. I had to take a year off being donor after a business trip to Pakistan. I had lots of shots (including two big, pink ones for rabies!!) so they wanted to wait the year for my system to clear and settle down.

After donation the blood is screened for HIV amongst other things, but don't forget that blood has a short shelf life and demand for it is high. It's possible that the blood will be transfused before the test results come back from the lab, so any possible reduction in risk is deemed by the BTS to be a good thing.