Nine Pints - A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood
by Rose George
Blood carries life, yet the sight of it makes people faint. It is a waste product and a commodity pricier than oil. It can save lives and transmit deadly infections. Each one of us has roughly nine pints of it, yet many don’t even know their own blood type. And for all its ubiquitousness, the few tablespoons of blood discharged by 800 million women are still regarded as taboo: menstruation is perhaps the single most demonized biological event.
FACTOID: I once saw my friend drink 8 pints (one gallon) of beer at the Munich Hofbräuhaus. Later that night I saw him fall and hit his head on a hotel desk, instantly tucking himself into a slumber that would last until the next day. Should have checked on him for sure, but he’s fine now. Works in construction.
by Rose George
Blood carries life, yet the sight of it makes people faint. It is a waste product and a commodity pricier than oil. It can save lives and transmit deadly infections. Each one of us has roughly nine pints of it, yet many don’t even know their own blood type. And for all its ubiquitousness, the few tablespoons of blood discharged by 800 million women are still regarded as taboo: menstruation is perhaps the single most demonized biological event.
FACTOID: I once saw my friend drink 8 pints (one gallon) of beer at the Munich Hofbräuhaus. Later that night I saw him fall and hit his head on a hotel desk, instantly tucking himself into a slumber that would last until the next day. Should have checked on him for sure, but he’s fine now. Works in construction.
by Rose George
Blood carries life, yet the sight of it makes people faint. It is a waste product and a commodity pricier than oil. It can save lives and transmit deadly infections. Each one of us has roughly nine pints of it, yet many don’t even know their own blood type. And for all its ubiquitousness, the few tablespoons of blood discharged by 800 million women are still regarded as taboo: menstruation is perhaps the single most demonized biological event.
FACTOID: I once saw my friend drink 8 pints (one gallon) of beer at the Munich Hofbräuhaus. Later that night I saw him fall and hit his head on a hotel desk, instantly tucking himself into a slumber that would last until the next day. Should have checked on him for sure, but he’s fine now. Works in construction.