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Blood donations and risk of coronary heart disease in men

A Ascherio1, E B Rimm, E Giovannucci

  • 1Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. alberto.ascherio@channing.harvard.edu

Circulation
|January 4, 2001
PubMed

Insights

Reducing body iron stores through blood donation did not lower the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). This study found no association between blood donation history and myocardial infarction or fatal CHD events.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular disease epidemiology
  • Iron metabolism and health

Background:

  • Experimental studies suggest iron overload promotes atherosclerosis and ischemic myocardial damage.
  • Epidemiological studies on iron stores and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk have yielded inconsistent results.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether reducing body iron stores by donating blood is associated with a lower risk of CHD.
  • To examine the relationship between lifetime blood donation history and the incidence of myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease mortality.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study of 38,244 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, free of cardiovascular disease in 1992.
  • Assessed lifetime history of blood donation via questionnaire; followed participants for 4 years for nonfatal myocardial infarctions and coronary deaths.
  • Analyzed the association between blood donation frequency and CHD risk, adjusting for potential confounders.

Main Results:

  • Blood donation was strongly associated with lower plasma ferritin levels, indicating reduced body iron stores.
  • No significant association was found between the number of lifetime blood donations and the risk of myocardial infarction or fatal CHD.
  • Relative risk of myocardial infarction for highest blood donation category was 1.2 (95% CI 0.8-1.8), unchanged after adjustments.

Conclusions:

  • The findings do not support the hypothesis that reducing body iron stores through blood donation lowers the risk of coronary heart disease.
  • Further research may be needed to fully elucidate the complex relationship between iron status and cardiovascular health.
Abstract

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