Becky Foerschler has always donated blood out of the goodness of her heart. Now she can do it for the wellness of her heart.

A new study by a researcher at the Kansas University Medical Center shows people who donate blood frequently are less likely to get heart disease.

That came as good news to Foerschler, a Lawrence resident who was donating Friday at Community Blood Center, 535 Gateway Drive. Her family has a history of heart disease.

“The main reason to give blood is to help others,” she said. “But the more inspiration I have, the better.”

The research was conducted by Dr. David Meyers, in KU’s division of cardiovascular disease. It supports the findings of similar studies that were more limited in scope.

Meyers studied the health of about 3,000 people who donated blood at the Community Blood Centers in the Kansas City area between 1997 and 1999. Half of those were one-time donors, and the other half were “frequent donors,” which he defined as people who donated more than once.

“Cardiac events,” such as heart attacks, angioplasty or bypass surgery, occurred in 6.3 percent of frequent donors. Infrequent donors had a rate of 10.5 percent.

Meyers said donating blood lowered the levels of iron in the body. Iron helps cholesterol to clog arteries.

The difference between frequent and infrequent donors especially is apparent in men and postmenopausal women. Women who still have monthly periods lose enough blood to have lower rates of heart disease than men and postmenopausal women.

“Much like menstruation, people who regularly donate blood, who came in like clockwork and did it, had a significant reduction in heart trouble,” Meyers said.

Meyers compared frequent donors to one-time donors because those who donate blood typically are healthier than those who don’t donate blood. Those who don’t donate would be more likely to suffer from heart disease for other health reasons.

He said the study didn’t determine how often people should donate for the most benefits. Meyers said he’s considering doing another study if he can secure funding from the National Institutes of Health.

“The nice thing is while we can’t definitely prove (the benefits), we can do a benefit/risk analysis,” he said. “You have this apparent health benefit of donating blood and, two, you did a wonderful thing in the community. What’s the risk? At the worst, fainting at the sight of a needle.”

A similar study out of KU in 1997 showed men who donate blood regularly might reduce their risk of heart disease up to 30 percent.

Kathy Dent, collections supervisor at Lawrence’s Community Blood Center, said she hoped further studies would convince more people to donate.

“We do use it as a recruiting tool, especially for our male donors,” Dent said. “It seems like we have more female donors than male donors.”