Donated Blood Won’t Transmit Neurodegenerative Disorders

A new study finds no credible evidence that degenerative brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, can be transmitted via donated blood. Researchers tracked data on more than 40,000 patients who received blood transfusions between 1968 and 2012 from people who were later diagnosed with any form of dementia or Parkinson’s disease and found they had exactly the same chance of developing a neurodegenerative disorder as those who received blood from people who did not go on to develop a neurodegenerative disorder. Annals of Internal Medicine, June 2016