Type 1 and any type of donation

[Nicola M]

As a Type 1 diabetic it’s extremely frustrating that the UK doesn’t allow blood donation from us as it’s something I’d love to do.

Is there anything that Type 1’s can actually donate besides their organs (already on the register for that) I’d love to be able to give back but everything I’ve looked up donation wise we seem to be barred from

 

[EllieM]

s there anything that Type 1’s can actually donate besides their organs

Hair? I think if it's 7 inches or more you can donate it for cancer patients? (My daughter did this in Australia but I see that uk cancer organisations have the same thing.)

Funnily enough, you'd be allowed to donate blood if New Zealand or Australia as long as you were born in 1997 or later , as they don't mind T1s but they do mind people who lived in the UK in the "mad cow" period. There are plenty of other countries that allow T1 donations, but again UK folk not welcome if they lived there for six months before 31 December 1996, but you might be young enough to qualify. (Your forum info says you are 23, so I guess that means that you were less than 6 months old at the end of 1996?)

Anyway, you might need to be quite patient as regards the hair (you may need more like 12 inches or 30 cm) but if it's got long and you fancy a new look (and an infinitely easier hair maintenance regime) why not go for it?

 

[TypeZero.]

As a Type 1 diabetic it’s extremely frustrating that the UK doesn’t allow blood donation from us as it’s something I’d love to do.

Is there anything that Type 1’s can actually donate besides their organs (already on the register for that) I’d love to be able to give back but everything I’ve looked up donation wise we seem to be barred from

The thing about blood donation is that we have antibodies present in our blood so if we give our blood to someone then it might actually damage their pancreas. For some odd reason the immune system might even start producing its own antibodies against the pancreas. Dangerous game.

In terms of donations, What else do you want to donate? I mean the term “organs” covers a large percentage of your body

 

[Emily95]

I don’t think type 1’s are allowed to be live donors, so no blood/bone marrow etc but hair is good one! I’ve donate hair

 

[EllieM]

The thing about blood donation is that we have antibodies present in our blood so if we give our blood to someone then it might actually damage their pancreas. For some odd reason the immune system might even start producing its own antibodies against the pancreas. Dangerous game.

I don’t think type 1’s are allowed to be live donors, so no blood/bone marrow etc but hair is good one! I’ve donate hair

T1s are allowed to be donors in other countries, but not in the UK. I think they are worried about the effect on the T1, not the person who gets the blood, though you do need to have normal blood sugars at donation time. They also don't like you to have used bovine insulin since 1980 (mad cow disease again).

 

[Nicola M]

Thank you all for your help, I’ll definitely look into donating some hair! Such a shame the UK is more strict on blood donation than other countries because I’d happily do it