Topic - Pure blood for transfusions isn’t pure after all
Think that bag of blood getting ready to drip into your veins is free of contaminants? Oops. Think again. We Americans love our caffeine. Whether you’re a tea drinker, a coffee lover, a soda slurper or just a big fan of chocolate, chances are you’re one of the 80% of Americans who enjoy caffeine daily. Caffeine consumption is so widespread that it was found in every single sample of allegedly pure blood provided by blood banks. That’s not all. Traces of Xanax and cough medicine were also found in the samples. While the medical community isn’t concerned about a little caffeine, they are worried that the other drugs found in donated blood could pose a problem for some patients. The researchers were most concerned about all of the drugs they didn’t test for and how they could complicate a patient’s outcome.
