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

Hypertension is one of the leading global risks for cardiovascular events worldwide. There is preliminary evidence that regular blood donation may be beneficial.

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.

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 ± 13.0 to 143.7 ± 15.0 mmHg and from 91.4 ± 9.2 to 84.5 ± 9.3 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], -23.2 to -11.0; p < 0.0001) and 11.7 mmHg (95% CI, -17.1 to -6.1; p = 0.0006) for SBP and DBP, respectively. The decrease in BP was not significantly associated with changes of blood count or variables of iron metabolism.

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.