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ChocolateMilkSheaff t1_itbopyl wrote

It does exist. I worked in the medical department onboard an aircraft carrier while I was Active Duty Navy some time ago. We had a guy check onboard midway through a deployment with chronic erythrocytosis (increased red blood cells) and needed to have his blood taken every 3 months.

This Sailor had checked onboard swollen and red because he had not had his blood “donated” for quite some time. I still have no idea how or why this guy was 1. still in the military and 2. managed to get cleared by his doctor to deploy on a warship with a limited medical suite.

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athiarna t1_itc5sx8 wrote

This is polycythemia vera. Patients need to routinely have blood drawn and it is discarded. Kind of like how “doctors” of old would bloodlet patients. In this case it is needed. The extra red blood cells also increase a patient’s iron (hemoglobin is based on iron) and can lead to organ failure and other disorders.

If you’re talking blood volume, I cannot recall hearing or studying any disorder in hematology class, nor ever coming across a disease like that.

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