ВUnderstanding the prime causes for the deferrals and Вestablishing an action plan to prevent them will help promote the blood donor well-being and improve the ever-declining donor pool. Considering donors deferred for low Hb constitutes a Вsignificant percentage of the total donor population. It has been predicted that donors deferred for low Hb donate relatively 30% less blood over the subsequent 4-to-5-year period, even after their Hb normalizes in comВparison to the donors who have not been deferred. Accurate diagnosis and detection of iron deficiency at an early phase require further laboratory testing with a high degree of accuracy and precision. It is established that iron-deficiency anemia is the last stage in the pathogenesis of body iron depletion, and it is apparent that Hb levels by themselves are insufficient data for identifying blood donors with iron deficiency without anemia. Screening for hemoglobin concentration (Hb) is a conventional part of the donor selection process, both in order to assure adequate quality of red cell concentrates collected and to safeguard the potential donorвЂ™s health. The frequency of blood donation has been so regulated as to prevent anemia in most donors, but quantitative information regarding the iron status of donors is still limited till date. Iron deficiency is often observed in long-term regular blood donors. Thus, a unit of blood (450 mL) contains nearly 250 mg of iron, representing about 30% of the average body iron stores (BIS) in males and nearly 80% in females. One mL of blood consists of 0.5 mg of iron. With frequent blood donation, an individual either reaches stability at a lower level of iron stores or becomes anemic. As iron storage reduces, its absorption increases subsequently. Bleeding results in movement of iron from body stores. Regular donation may be one of the important causes of iron loss in blood donors. Iron supplementation for all regular blood donors and female donors in particular will help prevent the shrinking donor pool due to iron deficiency. A ferritin screening after the first donation followed up at the tenth donation might help detect iron-deficient individuals. In 11.2% of the donors, iron deficiency erythropoiesis was noted. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates iron depletion in regular voluntary blood donors. Further donations in such cases can compromise donor safety. Of the donors, 11.2% were in Stage 2 of reduced BIS. In the study, 9.8, 11.2, and 4.8% of the donors were in Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3 of reduced BIS, respectively.

There was a 45% decrement in the mean serum ferritin values in Group I (101.57 Вµg/L) in contrast to Group III (56.69 Вµg/L) ( p < 0.0032). The mean serum ferritin levels in males and females were 75.4 and 36.2Вµg/L, respectively. Results: A total of 374 regular voluntary blood donors were included in the study.

The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 20 (IBM, USA). Their samples were tested for Hb, red cell indices, and serum ferritin to check for reduced BIS. Donors were further divided into four groups, depending on their number of donations.

Study Design and Setting: We conducted a prospective study on voluntary whole-blood donors (September 2015 through August 2017).

Hence, our primary aim was to understand the effect of repeated blood donations on BIS in regular blood donors. Furthermore, hemoglobin (Hb) itself is quite an inadequate measure to detect iron deficiency. Background and Objectives: Regular and repeat blood donations may cause reduced body iron stores (BIS), which may lead to a shrinking donor pool.

Blood and iron new west