> I was told over the weekend by my uncle, who is a nurse, that the official American Red Cross recommendation is that you shouldn't give blood or any portion thereof -- plasma, platelets, whatever -- more often than every 54 days and that doing so can cause some pretty screwy problems. Can anyone confirm or deny?

All I can say is that with plasmapheresis (where they return everything but the plasma to your body) here in Canada, they allow and encourage weekly donations. Some people even set up a weekly appointment to give plasma. I don't know about platelets, and with whole blood, I believe our number is 54 days. Let's see... Yeah, that sounds about right for when I last gave and when they said I could give again.

Hope that helps,

Don