Regular blood donation may help in the management of hypertension: an observational study on 292 blood donors

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is one of the leading global risks for cardiovascular events worldwide. There is preliminary evidence that regular blood donation may be beneficial. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Unselected blood donors were included in this observational study. Blood pressure (BP) was measured before and after blood donation, with participants donating between one and four occasions in a 1-year study period. RESULTS: In this study, 292 donors were enrolled. At baseline, 146 had elevated BP (>140/90 mmHg). In hypertensives, after four blood donations, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively) decreased from a mean of 155.9 613.0 to 143.7 615.0 mmHg and from 91.4 69.2 to 84.5 69.3 mmHg, respectively (each p <0.001). There was a clear dose effect with decreasing BP by the increasing number of blood donations. After at least four blood donations, donors with Stage II hypertensive baseline values (160 mmHg SBP and/or 100 mmHg DBP) were found to have the most marked reduction in BP, with 17.1 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI], 223.2 to 211.0; p <0.0001) and 11.7 mmHg (95% CI, 217.1 to 26.1; p 50.0006) for SBP and DBP, respectively. The decrease in BP was not significantly associated with changes of blood count or variables of iron metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Regular blood donation is associated with pronounced decreases of BP in hypertensives. This beneficial effect of blood donation may open a new door regarding community health care and cost reduction in the treatment of hypertension.