Plasma is the liquid part of your blood. It contains water and a small yet crucial portion of solid substances, such as proteins and antibodies. You can donate plasma along with whole blood or on its own. Plasma donations are vital for shock and trauma treatments, and are also used to make life-saving medicines. Let’s discover the many uses of plasma in medicine.

Plasma is a part of your blood, specifically the liquid one. In fact, 91-92% of it is water. The remaining percentage of plasma contains vital substances. In particular, these include:

Plasma provides nutrients, enzymes, and hormones to the body and helps remove waste.

Although it is an often-forgotten part of blood, it is the largest one, and its role, when donated, is often life-saving.

The use of plasma in medicine reached a turning point during World War II when its benefits became clear. It is easier to transport than blood and particularly suitable for shock treatment, such as burns and wounds.

Today, plasma is not only used for emergency treatments but also for chronic, rare, and autoimmune diseases and research.

Your plasma donation can be used for many purposes. Here are some of its most frequent uses:

Plasma transfusions help with excessive bleeding, and both its proteins and its antibodies can help treat the serious and chronic conditions just mentioned. Typically in these cases, the patient undergoes a treatment called plasmapheresis: the removal, return, or exchange of plasma. This is done with the help of a special machine.

However, the use of plasma for research purposes is equally important, since plasma-derived medicinal products are developed thanks to it.

In conclusion, the plasma you donate is essential for emergencies, but also to help provide the key ingredient for therapies that improve the quality of life of patients suffering from various rare, chronic, autoimmune and genetic diseases.

Blood is essential to our bodies: it carries nutrients such as fats, proteins, and sugars, removes waste products, helps heal wounds, and distributes heat. Blood has many components, most notably a liquid part called plasma and a solid part that contains red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The latter are the best known, but plasma itself plays a fundamental role too. What is it made up of, and what does it do for your body?

Whole blood flows through our veins, and it makes up about 7-8% of our body’s weight. Typically, the male body contains up to 12 pints of blood, while the female body contains up to 9 pints.

Whole blood contains:

Therefore “blood” refers to the solid part, and “plasma” refers to the liquid part. The difference between blood and plasma is important when donating: you can donate whole blood or just a part of it, plasma.

Both whole blood and plasma are in high demand, especially in emergency medicine: they are often needed to treat trauma, injuries, and burns.

In addition to helping in cases of emergencies, plasma is also used in the treatment and research of rare, chronic, and autoimmune diseases.

Plasma is first formed in the embryo thanks to the umbilical cord. As the body develops, plasma proteins form in the soft tissue of the bones, called bone marrow. Plasma cells regenerate quickly, so donating plasma is completely safe. 

The main component of plasma is water, and it comes from the water absorbed through the digestive system.

When separated from the rest of your blood, it appears like a yellowish liquid that has the color of straw.

As we have seen, plasma is the liquid part of the blood, so its main component is water. It makes up for 91-92% of plasma, which is why drinking plenty of water after a plasma donation is highly recommended.

The remaining 7-8% contains several substances essential for your health and for the well-being of your body. It consists of:

Both whole blood and plasma play a fundamental role in the functioning of our bodies. Specifically, plasma is responsible for:

Plasma performs incredible functions for the body. By donating this precious ‘life-source’ you are helping people who have suffered some kind of trauma or whose own plasma cells don’t function as they should. Your donation helps re-regulate these fundamental processes, greatly improving the quality of life of patients worldwide.