Blood- legend laden liquid of life

Blood banking is still plagued with the double problem of an inadequate supply of donors and inappropriate ordering policies by many physicians. Attempts to change these conditions by educational programs have met with only limited success. This paper lists and discusses many of the folklore beliefs attributed to blood and shows that many of these primitive beliefs still can be found today. Both donors and physicians, being human, may be influenced by these myths, many of which couple blood with the soul or with a vital essence in the blood. The reluctance to donate and the use of blood as a tonic rather than a therapeutic medium may both be based on a carryover of some of these beliefs. If this thesis is correct, education of both the physician and donor must be based as much on a phychotherapeutic approach to erase firmly established misconceptions as on a strict scientific educatory method.