Gain insights on measurements from healthy blood donors to study the physiologic variation of hemoglobin and platelet concentration levels by changes in altitude, geographic location, seasonal variations, age, race and sex.
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Besides age, race, gender and general health, blood hemoglobin concentrations are also affected by altitude. Higher altitudes correlate with higher hemoglobin concentrations in healthy individuals when adjusted by other factors such age, race, and gender. Variations in the normal hemoglobin levels among healthy human donors based on their gender and blood collection centers is shown here. These data demonstrates that healthy donors from centers at higher altitudes have an average hemoglobin that is relatively greater than those from centers at lower altitudes.
Higher mean hemoglobin levels were observed among donors at higher altitudes for both males and females. A non-linear relationship was observed between altitude and the mean hemoglobin concentration. Mean hemoglobin concentrations, adjusted by sex, increased exponentially at altitudes above 11000 feet but the increase was less conspicuous at lower altitudes.
Variations in average hemoglobin concentrations among healthy donors were also observed among donors of different (self-designated) races after adjusting for sex of the donor and the altitude. At a specific altitude, these variations among either female or male donors were most significant between Native Americans and African Americans.
Average platelet counts in platelet donations from female donors were higher greater compared to those from male donors. An age-dependent decrease in platelet counts, greater among females than males, is also observed. Seasonality in platelet counts, among either sex or age-group, was also determined with the lower counts in the warmer months from June to September.
The age-dependent decline in platelet counts among the platelet donors is independent of the total number of donations in their lifetime. Increased donation frequency does not impact the donor’s platelet levels.
No significant racial differences in the platelet counts are evident. Platelet counts are higher in females than males across all races.