If you've got hereditary hemochromatosis you sure need to. Your body doesn't get rid of excess iron properly. You need to bleed it out.

That's a genetic disase that affects about 0.5% of Northern Europeans. It only kills people slowly and conveys resistance to certain infections, so it may have been much more common in the past, after epidemics killed most of the people with a normal iron metabolism, possibly explaining why bloodletting was such a popular thing.

>>7782791
donating blood reduces blood viscosity by removing some of the iron

>>7782791
No. Only if you have hemochromatosis or polycythemia vera.

Yes it does.
It stimulates the bone marrow to make more, freshening your platelet and white cell reserves.

>>7782791
It reduces the iron content in your blood. Bacteria thrive on iron.

>>7782791
Source on painting?

>>7783601
Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan (1885)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Repin