BLOOD transfusions have been a constant of medicine for almost a century. They are used to treat not only patients who have lost a lot of blood in a traumatic accident, but also those who are critically ill or undergoing major surgery. So it is a shock to learn that the technique frequently does more harm than good.
A series of studies suggest it may increase the risk of death in all but the most serious cases of anaemia and people suffering a catastrophic loss of blood (see “Could blood transfusions actually cause harm?”). It appears this damage is…
