INFO - Blood donation: are RA patients able to donate blood?

[Guest guest]

Blood Donation - Are rheumatoid arthritis patients able to donate blood?

By Carol & Eustice, About.com

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the

Medical Review Board

Question: Blood Donation - Are rheumatoid arthritis patients able to

donate blood?

Are rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients able to donate blood? Are

people with other rheumatic diseases excluded from blood donation? It

has been suggested that some people are turned away due to their

disease or because of the medications they are taking. What are the

guidelines for donating blood if the patient has rheumatoid arthritis

or another autoimmune disease?

Answer: Patients with Sjogren's syndrome, lupus and scleroderma are

not able to donate blood. In addition, most patients with rheumatoid

arthritis will not be able to donate.

There are a number of reasons blood donation is not permitted.

First, many patients will be anemic.

Second, many patients will be on DMARDs (disease modifying

anti-rheumatic drugs) these medications include:

hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil)

methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Trexall)

azathioprine (Imuran)

Finally, it is costly to screen patients with these conditons because

they may be more likely to have false positive tests for some of the

infections that need to be detected, thus increasing the cost for the

blood bank.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients only on NSAIDs (non-steroidal

anti-inflammatory drugs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), are

permitted to donate. Policies of each blood bank may differ so if you

are considering a donation, be sure to check with your local blood

bank and provide them with your diagnosis and a complete medication

list. If you do plan to donate blood, make sure you feel well.

Answer provided by J. Zashin, M.D., clinical assistant professor

at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Division of

Rheumatology, in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Zashin is also an attending

physician at Presbyterian Hospitals of Dallas and Plano. He is a

fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College

of Rheumatology and a member of the American Medical Association. Dr.

Zashin is author of Arthritis Without Pain - The Miracle Of Anti-TNF

Blockers. The book is a must-have for anyone on one of the biologic

drugs (Enbrel, Remicade, Humira) or considering the biologic drugs.

http://arthritis.about.com/od/arthqa/f/blooddonation.htm

Not an MD