SCUBA after blood donation
Dear Forum,
Does anyone know of an evidence base relating to a recommended safe interval post-blood donation before resuming diving?
Kent Haworth
Hello Brent,
Theoxygen carrying capacity of the blood as a whole is certainly reduced after a blood donation as you have less red cells to carry the blood.
The formula for carrying capacity of oxygen in the blood is:
CaO2= (SaO2 x Hb x 1.34) + (0.003 x PaO2)
CaO2 is oxygen carrying capacity of the blood
SaO2 is % saturation of haemoglobin
Hb is haemoglobin content
PaO2 is the arterial blood gas content of oxygen
The first bracket is the amount of oxygen carried by haemoglobin and the second part is the amount dissolved in blood plasma. So if you reduce the haemoglobin by removing blood cells then the carrying capacity is reduced. Physiologically if you have a normal Hb to start with the carrying capacity will not be reduced below what you can function with.
The blood volume is rapidly replaced with fluid from the tissues therefore is not a persistent problem and is the main reason for the recommendation for the delay between donating and diving.
Anabolic steroids and diving haven't been studied much but then again I would not recommend the practice as there are a lot of protentially unpredictable issues that could occur with uncontrolled drug use that affects the bodies physiological make up as much as Anabolic Steroids do.
Regards Glen
Hello Kent,
There are no formal recommendations that I know of regarding this. I would suspect that if you are fit enough to give a donation then diving afterwards would not be much of a problem. I would wait at least 24h and make sure that you replaced the blood volume lost with lots of water (ie increase drinking) before diving however. If you are not feeling well after the donation then I would wait until you were feeling better as well.
Regards Glen
Hi All;
I would like to inquire if the lowered blood volume would have anything to do with decreased delivery of oxygen/nitrogen to brain and other vital organs, thus lowering work-load capacity and increasing fatigue?
Further, I wonder if anyone has studied SCUBA-related illness in people with anemia? I know that many "sport divers" here in California use or have used anabolic steroids, it would be an interesting study to note differences in gas saturation in individual with increased blood volume due to drugs that stimulate erythropoeisis.
Warm regards,
Brent