Can You Donate Blood If You Have a Tattoo? Eligibility & More

“I have RA and my doctor said I am absolutely not allowed to donate blood at a blood drive. Some autoimmune patients take immunosuppressive drugs and biologics that can raise the risk of infection. Potential donors often get granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) to help collect the cells from the marrow. But G-CSF could cause a reaction if you have MS. So you could put your own health at risk, too.

And more), some conditions that will disqualify people with lupus from donating blood at any blood bank or organization.
If you have not been vaccinated or it has been less than 4 weeks since being vaccinated, wait 4 weeks from the date of the vaccination or exposure before donating.
Having many of these conditions may also make you permanently ineligible to donate to the National Institutes of Health Blood Bank.
Donating blood is important — life-saving blood transfusions are used at hospitals every day in our country.
If you received an injection of cadaveric pituitary human growth hormone you cannot donate.

For example, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center allows people with lupus to donate blood if they’re asymptomatic. People living with MS may hold the key to curing this disease. One way they can make a difference is to arrange to donate their brain and spinal cord tissues when they die. The National MS Society supports two MS tissue banks, which are storage facilities that provide brain and spinal cord tissues to researchers studying multiple sclerosis.

Giving plasma takes longer than a regular blood donation. You’ll lie back while you’re hooked up to a machine that takes your blood, separates the plasma, and then puts the other parts of your blood and some saline, or salty solution, back into your body. Doctors use donated plasma to treat some chronic diseases. You’ll have to go to a special clinic or center to make one.

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Check the website for the agency responsible for accepting blood donations in the country where you live. But even if you’re MS is being treated you still can’t donate bone marrow or stem cells. They might contain cells that could hurt the person who gets them.

Eligibility Criteria Alphabetical Listing

Due to inflammation in blood vessel walls or through triggering blood clots, lupus may increase the risk of strokes over the long run. Before deciding whether to donate, it’s important to consider whether it’s right for you. Because you you can help or give back in other ways, you don’t need to risk your health to do so. Verywell Health content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness.

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These studies generally focus on the pathology of MS — its nature, cause, and effects on the brain — and they are extremely important. They’ll be able to test your blood for any of these conditions, help you navigate the process for donating blood, and walk you through any guidelines for how often and how much blood you can give. There are plenty of other caveats to donating blood, even if a condition or lifestyle choice doesn’t seem like it should have any impact on how safe or healthy your blood is. Read the Red Cross frequently asked questions page about eligibility for blood donation. Read the NIH frequently asked questions page about eligibility for blood donation.