Men who donated blood were 88% less likely to have a heart attack during a 9-year followup compared to men who did not donate blood according to a 1998 study from Finland.
This was after adjusting for age and coronary disease risk factors.
Only one (1) man out of 153 (0.7%) who had donated blood in the previous 24 months before baseline had a heart attack during 1984 to 1995, whereas 316 men of 2529 (12.5%) who had not donated blood had a heart attack.
“These findings suggest that frequent blood loss through voluntary blood donations may be associated with a reduced risk of acute myocardial infarction in middle-aged men,” the authors of the study concluded.
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