Are platelet donations more needed then whole blood?
A few months ago I showed up to donate blood and said I was willing to do any type of donation. I ended up getting dragged into donating platelets instead, which I admit I hadn't even realized was an option. I'm trying to donate platelets more, now that I realize I can do it in between whole blood donations, though I admit I find the whole process far more annoying then whole blood.
However, what I find odd is how I've gotten far more pressure to come back to donate platelets then I ever did donating red blood, and the first time the clearly pushed me to donating platelets over whole blood even when I really didn't know anything about it and just going along to help out however they wanted me to.
This last time I showed up I told them that I thought I was due to donate whole blood, and if so wanted to do whole blood since I didn't have time for platelets, but would donate platelets if I wasn't due for whole blood. Again they seemed very eager to get me to donate platelets, to the point of seeming really disappointing when I ended up donating whole blood.
It's inconvenient, to say the least, to loose so much time multiple times a month, I'm happy to do it to help, but I'd at least like to have an idea of exactly how much I am helping when I do it.
So, is there a reason they seem so eager to get platelet donations? Would it do more good to never donate whole blood and only ever do platelets? Can anyone give me an estimation of how much good a platelet donation does on average (not the best case, but the average case of each donation from a B+ donor)?
edit:
To try to make this easier I finally sat down and tried to answer another question of mine: how many 'lives' are saved from one donation of blood? See my answer to it. The numbers are not guaranteed by me, I am a layman who doesn't really know much about the medicine behind the statistics I looked up, but it may give an answer some basis for comparison of the two options; IF they assume any of my numbers are right.
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I don't know if anyone can give a definite answer as to why these folks so badly wanted you to donate platelets over whole blood, but there are many possible reasons.
Platelets give you more bang for your buck. According to the American Red Cross, one session of platelet apheresis can collect enough platelets for one or two transfusions. On the other hand, it can take anywhere from four to six donations of whole blood to get the same amount of platelets.
Platelets are always needed, at high rates. The first point is important, because those who use platelets often use them in bulk (some organ transplant patients need up to 30 units worth1 - see a page from University Health System).
Platelets have a short shelf life. Blood Centers of America states that even with some processing, platelets need to be transfused within about five days after the donation, meaning that waiting can cause the loss of an entire donation. There is a constant need for refills (for lack of a better word). Even this narrow window has been modified in the past, shrinking or growing (see Sireis et al. (2011)).
Platelets are used for cancer patients. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center says that patients who are suffering from leukemia or have just had a bone marrow transplant may have low platelet levels. The transfusions can be essential - life-saving.
People might not like donation platelets.[Citation needed!] This one is a complete guess on my part, but platelet donation can take a long time, as you said. People are averse to donating blood for many reasons; as you stated, the long donation session for platelets only makes this worse. You've shown that you were willing in the past to go through with this, so the blood donation center probably thinks that you're more likely to do it again.
1 One donation can give about 6-8 -"units". See the Johns Hopkins Pathology page on platelets for more information.
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