Is Blood Donation Advisable With Hypertension?

Posted on Mon, 14 Jul 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 Answered on

Wed, 30 Jul 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello doctor I am 64 yrs old .My HCT IS 48.5% ,HB 16.5GMS ,RBC 5.55 MILLION/UL ,MCV87FI,MCH29.8pg,
MCHC34.1G/DL,PLATELET216000/CMM,RDWCV 17.9%,TOTAL COUNT 9200/CUMM. Physcian here are advising me to go in for blood donation advice me XXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Jyothi B L (-4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Blood donation not advisable

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
I am Dr. Jyothi BL and I would like to answer your query.

Above 60 years and with hypertension, blood donation is usually not advised.

16.5g% is not high. Literature says 14 +/- 2.5g%. Its the upper limit of normal. The cause of increased hemoglobin / rbc count could be your body trying to adjust to hypoxia secondary to smoking/pollution related lung damage (reduced gaseous exchange).

There could be increased viscosity in the blood, but risk of thrombosis is low at this percentage. If it crosses 18g%, then therapeutic phlebotomy might be necessary based on cause.

I wouldn't advise a blood donation. All are within normal limits.

Dr. Jyothi BL

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad