About bloody time

Coincidentally, I read Dr. Shuchman’s article1 regarding the risks of iron deficiency with frequent blood donation while I was laying in a chair in Toronto donating whole blood. I am a frequent blood donor myself, and over the last year I have watched with growing trepidation the ever-decreasing level of my hemoglobin at the point of donation. A course of iron supplementation seems to have done the trick, and I am actually feeling quite a bit more energetic as well. I am happy to hear that Canadian Blood Services will be piloting routine ferritin testing, although there is some recent evidence suggesting that reducing body iron stores may have beneficial effects on blood pressure, blood glucose and other metabolic parameters.2 In the absence of frank anemia, one wonders if there is an optimal ferritin level which balances the potential for chronic disease prevention and the risk of fatigue. Hopefully, future studies will guide us in this regard.