Plasma Donation and blood donation are donations that are given by a person willing to give to another person o save his/her life. Plasma and Blood are part of bodies, their lacking can lead to the death of a person. Blood is a main component of our body system.
Plasma Donation vs Blood Donation
The main difference between Plasma Donation And Blood Donation is that Plasma is a component of blood that is donated while blood is a necessary body liquid that flows in the arteries and veins of our body. Our body is made up of cells. Blood is a necessary fluid that delivers substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cell.
Plasma is a part of Blood. Blood is composed of two main contents: one is solid content called cells and another is a liquid called Plasma. Plasma is 55% of the blood fluid. It contains 92% of water in volume. Plasma is detached from the cells for donation. After detaching, it becomes a yellow-colored liquid.
Blood circulates our body through blood vessels and keeps the heart pumping. Whenever a person has a cut the blood flows out. A small cut will not damage the body’s system. However, more amount of blood loss can endanger a person’s life. This lead to the system of blood donation.
Comparison Table Between Plasma Donation and Blood Donation
| Parameters of Comparison | Plasma Donation | Blood Donation |
| Definition | Plasma is a liquid part of the blood which is donated separately. | The blood is donated as a whole entity. |
| Donor eligibility | The donor has to be 18 years of age and shouldn’t have transmitted diseases. And shouldn’t be pregnant as well. | Donor’s with transmitted diseases or weak health cannot donate blood. |
| Frequency | Plasma donation can be done twice a week. | The person is advised to take a gap of a minimum of 3 months. |
| Blood type | AB blood type can donate plasma to all other blood types. | O- blood type can donate blood to all other blood types. |
| Recovery | Since blood cells are returned to the donor’s body, it doesn’t need much time to recover. | It needs some time to recover as whole blood is drawn from the body. |
| Quantity | 800 milliliter of plasma can be donated by a single person one time. | 200 to 550 milliliter of blood can be drawn from a single person at one time. |
What is Plasma Donation?
Plasma is the liquid component of the blood. Blood consists of two components, cells, and plasma. Cells are considered as the solid part while plasma is the liquid component of the blood. Plasma is 55% of total blood volume. The liquid plasma after being detached from cells takes yellow color.
Plasma maintains the blood pressure of the body. It also gets rid of the chemical waste from cells by dissolving and carrying it away.
Even though plasma is detached from the blood cells it doesn’t lose its proteins, antibodies, and nutrients. In many disorders and deficiencies, the person’s blood thickens, that is the plasma is lacking. Therefore they need plasma to live a healthy life. Myasthenia gravis, Guillian Barre syndrome, Wilson’s disease, Hemophilia, etc. are some of the disorders in which patients need plasma.
The process of donating plasma is called Plasmapheresis. The process takes almost one and a half hours. In this process, the plasma is taken and the blood cells go back into your body. One person can donate plasma twice a week. From the four main blood groups, the AB blood group can donate plasma to any other blood group, while others have to be of the same blood group.
What is Blood Donation?
Blood flows through our veins and arteries and keeps the supply of oxygen to the tissues. It regulates the blood temperature. And removes waste such as carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and urea.
The blood is a rich red. Blood is donated based on blood groups as well. The blood group being A, B, AB, and O, only O- blood can be donated to any blood group type. Otherwise, it has to be donated as per the specific blood group of the person.
Blood loss due to the accident is very common. Blood banks are formed by the government to keep blood for emergency cases. Usually, 200 milliliters to 550 milliliters of blood can be drawn from one person to donate.
There are two processes of donating blood. One is donating blood as a whole entity. The other is to donate a part of blood, which can be cells or plasma. Cells consist of three parts: White Blood cells, Red blood cells, and Platelets, which can be donated separately as well. Mostly, plasma and platelets can be donated frequently.
Blood donation takes up to half an hour. The donor had to stay 10-15 minutes after the donation. He/she is kept under observation in case any side effect occurs.
Main Differences Between Plasma Donation and Blood Donation
- Plasma is a liquid part of the blood which is donated. Plasma is separated from the cells of the blood. The blood is donated as a whole entity.
- Plasma donation can be done twice a week while blood donation donors have to take a minimum 3-month gap.
- In plasma donation, the red blood cells are returned to the body of the donor. So it takes less time for the plasma donor to recover in comparison with the blood donor.
- The process of plasma donation takes up to one and half an hour. The blood donation process takes just 30 minutes.
- In plasma donation, AB blood type can donate plasma to all other blood types. In blood donation O- blood group type can donate blood to every blood type.
Conclusion
Plasma donation is the donation of the liquid portion of the blood. Plasma is fluid that is separated from the blood when needed for another person. The cells go back into the body of the donor. The process of donating plasma is called Plasmapheresis.
Blood donation is donating blood as a whole entity. Blood donation can not be done as frequently as plasma donation. Platelets, the part of blood cells can also be donated separately. People with transmitted diseases like HIV cannot donate plasma or blood. 800 ml of plasma and 200 to 550 ml of blood can be donated by a single person at a single time.
References
- https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/381535
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3934262/
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0958-7578.2004.00474.x