blood donation complete

[DreDay187]

^ Thanks for that, Dre. Everyone is arguing that hydration and dehydration is related to hCT. Well, that's no secret, I think we learned about hydration in grade school. But to think that water will bring my hCT down from 56 to 49 or whatever, is just shocking.

Since hematocrit is a measure of the percentage of the volume of whole blood that is made up of red blood cells or RBC/whole blood you can theoretically solve the problem in one of three ways: decrease the amount of RBCs, increase the volume of whole blood (without increasing RBCs), or do both. Option 1 involves blood donation and therapeutic draws and can significantly lower Hct, might take a few draws but that's not much of a concern if done correctly. Option two would involve drinking ENOUGH water to significantly increase whole blood volume which is how much water? An extra liter? 2liters? An extra gallon a day? 4gallons? There's not a predefined reference I could find that indicates how much extra fluids one would have to take to lower Hct by x%. So how would you know you've drank enough? By taking another blood test sure but what if you sweat extra the day after and neglect to make up for that in even more extra fluids? Your Hct levels can shoot right back up with even 24hrs of dehydration. How can it be an effective, key word, solution? I can't see any way that it would be. Not to mention the fact that to significantly reduce Hct in this method might involve over hydration and thus flushing out necessary minerals and vitamins from the body in the process.

 

[DreDay187]

My response was to the member stating hydration does nothing brother.

I'm sure we are all on the same page I just don't want guys getting a draw and freaking out because they have a reading of 52% when they may need to just adjust fluid intake. Saying hydration does nothing is a bit inaccurate.

Anyway, good night to you all.

Sure, I certainly agree to that regarding false readings but as an effective means to significantly reduce Hct levels, I don't believe so. Good night as well Heavy.

 

[Austinite]

Since hematocrit is a measure of the percentage of the volume of whole blood that is made up of red blood cells or RBC/whole blood you can theoretically solve the problem in one of three ways: decrease the amount of RBCs, increase the volume of whole blood (without increasing RBCs), or do both. Option 1 involves blood donation and therapeutic draws and can significantly lower Hct, might take a few draws but that's not much of a concern if done correctly. Option two would involve drinking ENOUGH water to significantly increase whole blood volume which is how much water? An extra liter? 2liters? An extra gallon a day? 4gallons? There's not a predefined reference I could find that indicates how much extra fluids one would have to take to lower Hct by x%. So how would you know you've drank enough? By taking another blood test sure but what if you sweat extra the day after and neglect to make up for that in even more extra fluids? Your Hct levels can shoot right back up with even 24hrs of dehydration. How can it be an effective, key word, solution? I can't see any way that it would be. Not to mention the fact that to significantly reduce Hct in this method might involve over hydration and thus flushing out necessary minerals and vitamins from the body in the process.

It's wild I tell ya. Thinking logically, comparing absorption/actual beneficial % of water to the amount of blood, seems you'd be dead before you got it right.

Anyway, I'm leaving this thread, my intellect is going to lessen. But I'll leave on this note for anyone curious... Not even GOD himself can bring your HCT down from a dangerous level to a safe zone. Only bloodletting would.