When men need a blood transfusion, not only the blood type, but also its origin is taken into account. Researchers have found that men die more often after blood transfusions from women who have given birth to a baby.
Blood donation can have life-threatening consequences for men
Before blood transfusion, various tests are performed to ensure that donor blood is well tolerated by the recipient. The blood group and the Rh factor must be the same, otherwise life-threatening reactions occur.
With a blood transfusion, men in the future will have to pay attention to who donated blood. If this is a woman who is already a mother, this leads to an increased risk of death in men.
Dutch scientists at Leiden University published the results of the study in the world famous journal JAMA.
Blood donation can save lives - this has been known for several decades. However, this statement seems to have significant limitations. The blood of pregnant women is poorly tolerated by men.
When men receive a transfusion of such blood, they subsequently die more often. The mortality rate was significantly lower when men received blood from other men or from non-pregnant women.
For the study, scientists analyzed data from more than 31,000 patients. Participants were on average about 65 years old. Affected people received a blood transfusion in 1 of 6 Dutch hospitals between 2005 and 2015.
In a Dutch study, about 4,000 blood donation recipients died. It was noticeable that the risk of dying from such a donation was not the same for all recipients.
Doctors found that every year 10% of men who previously received donated blood from their mothers die. Mortality was lower if the transfusion used the blood of another man or woman without a previous pregnancy.
Women have a lower risk of dying after blood donation
The risk of death was especially high when men were under the age of 50. Researchers report that men carry the blood of women who survived pregnancy worse. For women, it looks very different.
It does not matter who receives the blood transfusion from a woman. In general, mortality rates for women after blood donation were lower, the authors explain. The results of the study showed that only seven percent of women died when they received blood from a woman with a previous pregnancy. The probability of death was 6% if the donor blood was from a man.
The medical community suspects that certain antibodies in the blood of mothers may be the cause of this phenomenon. Antibody forms protect the unborn child from various infections. However, even after the birth of the baby, such antibodies remain in the mother’s blood.
If this blood is transfused into a man, it can cause health problems or even death.
What is the main cause of death for men after blood transfusion?
The study showed that the most common cause of death for patients was lung damage. This is a very dangerous and potentially fatal pneumonia, doctors say. Such a disease often develops after a blood transfusion, when donated blood came from a pregnant woman.
Previously, scientists found in various studies that there may be a relationship between gender and the risk of premature death. The results of these studies were very contradictory, the researchers explain. In June, the largest study conducted by Swedish and Danish doctors showed that there was no identifiable association.
Further research should refute and confirm the data. It is necessary to better understand the responsible mechanism that makes maternal blood so harmful to young men.
It is also interesting why this danger does not exist for women and older men. Until such studies are performed, the applicable criteria for blood donation should not be changed. Therefore, all patients are advised to donate blood in accordance with the criteria proposed by a qualified specialist.
