OK, so I’m trying to lose some weight. My current plan, eat less and exercise more, is working pretty well, but I want to take it up a notch. So I’m wondering: How many calories are in a pint of blood? How often can you donate without making yourself ill? This could be a great thing for both humanity and myself. –ubernina from Wisconsin
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Your proposal continues this dubious tradition. Presumed advantages: (1) You get to lie on a couch! (2) You get to watch TV! (3) You get to eat Oreos and drink juice! The only disadvantages: (1) You have to tell a complete stranger whether you’ve accepted money or drugs for sex; (2) needles; (3) they drain the blood out of your body. OK, not all the blood, but that’s what it would take for this stupid plan to work.
A glance at the medical literature might lead you to think otherwise. In the October 2001 issue of Transfusion Medicine we find an article entitled “Six Hundred Reasons to Donate Blood” by D.A. Redelmeier. This closely reasoned treatise consists of two paragraphs. The first notes the disadvantages of blood donation, e.g., “Some risk of financial cost is assumed if sloppy application of the disinfectant causes a bad clothing stain.” The second paragraph provides the following analysis:
I was wondering what is the point of having an illustrator if he doesn’t illustrate some of the concepts that Cecil is trying to explain to the Teeming Millions? Especially when it comes to the more technical explanations that are hard to visualize. Other sites like howstuffworks.com kick your butt when it comes to things like that, they have 3-D animations and video clips and everything. Although they don’t have any of the humor or style of Cecil Adams, plus the site is way more commercialized than Straight Dope. I don’t expect the Straight Dope to be a library or encyclopedia when it comes to stuff like that, but it is a fountain of knowledge and I think if you are fighting ignorance you should do it right. I can appreciate how a comedic cartoon can complement Cecil’s brand of humor, and I mean no offense to Slug, but I still want more. –Galo
