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Caffeine appears to affect the quality of blood donations

Blood high in caffeine is more prone to damage during storage

The red blood cells also are more likely to break down following transfusion

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Your morning cup of coffee might harm the quality of a blood donation provided later in the day, a new study says.

Caffeine appears to impair donated blood in ways that reduce the effectiveness of future transfusions, researchers report in the journal Haemotologica .

Specifically, they found that red blood cells are more prone to damage during storage when there are high levels of caffeine in a blood donation.

Further, results showed that transfusions of caffeine-laden blood resulted in lower increases in patients’ levels of he

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