Doesn blood kill more people than it saves? What about AIDS and all of the diseases that blood carries?
ANSWER We all know that blood transfusions are not risk free. Indeed, nor are the drugs used to treat diseases entirely risk-free. Even latex surgical gloves can cause a severe allergic reaction in some individuals! (One of my patients almost died from this during routine gynecologic surgery – fortunately we recognized the problem and she responded to epinephrine). The whole bloodless surgery movement, which I enthusiastically support (see my Web pages on the topic), is aimed at reducing potential complications from blood transfusions. As a result of the AIDS and hepatitis scare in the 1980’s, physicians have thoroughly revised their thinking about when blood transfusions are appropriate (see more of my Web pages for sample transfusion guidelines). This fact, coupled with the availability of new tests for blood-borne pathogens (see earlier question), puts the benefit to risk ratio for blood transfusions at an all-time high. In my opinion the ratio of lives saved to lives lost from bloo
