Q: I am 30 years old and married. I met a severe accident, when I was studying in college. I lost half of my leg in that accident. I have to change the entire blood of my body. Will the change of blood affect my mind and body in any way?

A:No, there is absolutely no effect on the individual's "mind" if given a massive transfusion (defined as replacement of a patients total blood volume in less than 24 hours or as the acute administration of more than half the patients estimated blood volume per hour) except some immediate physiological changes. These include: Dilutional thrombocytopenia i.e. fall in number of platelets; depletion of coagulation factors V & VIII; poor oxygen delivery to the tissues; hypocalcemia (fall in blood calcium level), hyperkalemia (rise in blood potassium level); disturbance in acid/base balance due increased lactic acid levels in the stored blood and sometimes, acute respiratory distress syndrome. As you can appreciate these are all acute metabolic changes and have no lasting effect.