“Can I donate blood if I am diabetic?”
I have newly diagnosed diabetes. There is a blood donation camp arranged in my office. Can I donate blood or should I avoid it?
2 Answers
Yes. If you have no complications of diabetes such as eye, kidney, blood vessel disease and your disease is well controlled with diet and medications, then it is ok to donate blood. Patients with type 2 diabetes can be at risk of falsely lowered HbA1c after blood donation. This could lead to a wrong interpretation of their diabetic control by their PCP. Those individual require insulin or multi organ involvement should not consider blood donation.
One is eligible to donate blood with diabetes as long as it is under control and your general health is okay. The Red Cross website has a long list of conditions and medications that may or may not affect one's eligibility to donate blood.
