Iron count concerns for women who give blood

Concerns that women who donate blood regularly are becoming iron-deficient has prompted the blood bank to look at curtailing the number of donations they make each year.

Dr Ian Franklin, medical and scientific director at the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS), said they were already advising some women to go to their GP because of concerns their iron count may be low.

The traditional “finger prick” test measures haemoglobin (Hb) levels — haemoglobin is the protein in your blood that carries oxygen — but it does not measure iron levels. This means a donor can pass the finger prick test even though their iron stores may be low. Dr Franklin said there was emergingevidence internationally that some donors, mainlywomen, were becoming iron deficient as a result.