Stored blood for more than thirty-one days is not good for the health of the high-risk patients. A research says that death rates are five times high for the patients who received blood stored for more than a month than the patients who received 19 days old blood.
According to the Bennett-Guerrero and his team, fresh blood may deliver more oxygen. Donated blood does not last long as red blood cells run down metabolically over time.
Earlier, new preservatives had helped in the survival of 75% of red blood cells of 42 days old blood. At the same time, Herbert Meiselman, a physiologist at the University of Southern California, concerns against early analysis of the detail of the study.
However, Bennett-Guerrero advices to avoid giving old blood to high-risk patients. On the other hand, if somebody just gets one unit of blood, it does not matter so much that the blood is old or young.
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