title: Time course for recovery of peak aerobic power after blood donation.
abstract: Peak aerobic power (VO2peak) is decreased after blood donation, but the time course for full recovery is unknown. We measured VO2peak and exercise time to fatigue before and weekly for 4 weeks after 450-ml blood donation at a blood donor clinic, to determine the time course of recovery. Twelve moderately active individuals (2 women, 10 men; 24.3 ± 5.2 years) of average aerobic fitness (based on their VO2peak relative to normative values) completed VO2peak exercise tests before donation, the day after donation, and at weekly intervals for 4 weeks after donation. VO2peak was determined by an incremental exercise test on a cycle ergometer. At baseline, mean absolute and relative VO2peak values were 4.06 ± 0.92 L·min(-1) and 46.6 ± 7.0 ml·kg(-1)·min(-1), respectively. VO2peak was significantly decreased on day 1 (3.85 ± 0.89 L·min(-1); 44.0 ± 6.5 ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) and during week 2 (3.91 ± 0.97 L·min(-1); 44.5 ± 7.2 ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) after blood donation (p < 0.05), and recovered at week 3 after donation. Time to fatigue and peak heart rate were not significantly affected by blood donation. We conclude that blood donation causes a significant decrease in VO2peak for between 2 and 3 weeks. The practical application of this study is that aerobic power in people of average fitness will be decreased, up to 3 weeks after donating blood. Despite this, there is no effect of blood donation on performance as measured by time to fatigue during an incremental test on a cycle ergometer.
authors: College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
authors: Tyler B
authors: TB
authors: Judd
authors: Stephen M
authors: SM
authors: Cornish
authors: Trevor S
authors: TS
authors: Barss
authors: Irina
authors: I
authors: Oroz
authors: Philip D
authors: PD
authors: Chilibeck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D020127:Recovery of Function; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult