HOW CAN BLOOD SAVE YOUR LIFE?

Conclusion of: THE BLOOD THAT REALLY SAVES LIVES

He no doubt believed that blood would have been lifesaving. The year after he wrote this, however, The British Journal of Surgery (October 1986) reported that prior to the advent of transfusions, gastrointestinal hemorrhage had  " a mortality rate of only 2.5 percent."  Since transfusions became customary, 'most large studies report a 10-percent mortality.' Why a death rate four times as high?  The researchers suggested:  "Early blood transfusion appears to reverse the hypercoagulable response to hemorrhage thereby encouraging re-bleeding." When the Witness with the bleeding ulcer refused blood, his choice may actually have maximized his prospects for survival. 

This same surgeon added:  "The passage of time and treating many patients has a tendency to change one's perspective, and today I find the trust between patient and his physician more important than the new medical technology which surrounds us. . . .  It is interesting that the frustration that has now given way to a sense of awe and reverence for that particular patient's steadfast faith."  The physician concluded:  'It reminds me that I should always respect a patient's personal and religious wishes regardless of my feelings or the consequences. 

You may already realize something that many physicians  come to appreciate with "the passage of time and treating many patients." Even the best of medical care in the finest of hospitals, at some point people die. With or without blood transfusions, they die. All of us are aging, and life's end is approaching. That is not fatalistic. It is realistic. Dying is a fact of life. 

The evidence shows that people who disregard God's law on blood often experience immediate or delayed harm; some even die from the blood. Those who survive have not gained endless life. So blood transfusion do not save lives permanently.  Most people who, for religious and/or medical reasons, refuse blood but accept alternative medical therapy do very well. They may thus extend their life for years. But not endlessly.

That all humans are imperfect and gradually dying leads us to the eternal truth of what the Bible says about blood. If we understand and appreciate this truth, we will see how blood can actually save life-our life- lastingly. 

Next time: HOW CAN BLOOD SAVE YOUR LIFE?/THE ONLY BLOOD THAT IS LIFESAVING

From the Watchtower magazine