by Rose George
as largest plasma exporter
leeches transported to
official shelf life of red blood cells in
Operation Tat-Type in
plasma industry in
removal of HIV entry restrictions
sale of blood in
taxes on feminine hygiene products
University of Nottingham
University of Oxford
University of Texas Health Science Center
Upton, Joseph
Userhat
US Forest Service and the National Parks Service
US National Institutes of Health
US War Department
uterus
Uttar Pradesh
vagina
vaginal research
Vaginal Tampon-Tube
vampire bats
vampires
vampirism
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)
Vaughan, Henry Halford
Vaughan, Janet Maria
death of
education of
family background of
“Jogging Along”
as a physician
political beliefs of
as principal of Somerville
research of
role in development of UK transfusion services
as Slough blood depot director
Vaughan, William Wyamar
vCJD (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease)
Vibrio fluvialis
Victoria, Queen
Vietnam War
Virivaidya, Mechai
Virmani, Amit
Virtuoso, The (Shadwell)
Visum et Repertum
vitamin B12 in blood research
Vogel, Sidney
Voluntary Blood Donations Act
Volunteer Emergency Service
Vox Sanguinis
Wagers, Amy
Wagner, Günter
Walker, Katie
Wall Street Journal
Wallander, Kurt
Walter, Carl W.
Wang Chong
war
Warm Fresh Whole Blood
WaterAid
Watkins, Nick
Watson, Heather
Watters, David
Welch, Raquel
Wellcome Library in London
Weller, Neil
Wellington, Darryl Lorenzo
WhatsApp groups for blood donors/recipients
Whipple, George H.
Whisper (commercial sanitary pad company)
Whitaker, Iain
Whitby Lionel
Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society
White, Luise
white blood cells
Whitington, Richard
WHO (World Health Organization). See World Health Organization (WHO)
Wiberg, Karolina Blom
Wiggins, Marvin
William and Mary Business Law Review
William IV
William of Norwich
Williams, Bill
Williams, Shirley
Wilson, Sam
Winter, Mark
Wittig, Gail
Wogeo
Women’s Voices for the Earth
Woolf, Virginia
Wordsworth, William
World Anti-Doping Agency
World Bank
World Federation of Hemophilia
World Health Organization (WHO)
on deaths from trauma
on dioxin
essential medicines list of
on global blood donations in 2013
on glyphosate
on infectious blood donations
on mHealth
on safest type of blood supply
World in Action
World Toilet Organization
World War I
World War II
Wrangler
Wren, Christopher
xenotransfusion
Xoliswa
Yadhav, Pappu
Yatra, Great WASH
YouTube
Yuanhui, Fu
Yudin, Professor
Yurok Indians
Zambia
Zeltin, Theodore
Zika
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book grew out of The Big Necessity, my book on sanitation. After it was published, I began to be asked to write about periods, decided I wanted to write about them in more depth, and then broadened that idea into a book about all sorts of aspects of blood, because how could I not, once I started looking into it? This made sense, except that I found myself writing about a topic that required me to understand medicine, science, history, culture, religion, philosophy, and much more, while having barely any background in medicine or science. I have needed a lot of help and have received it from many quarters. I hope I remember to acknowledge everyone I should, but, if not, my apologies and thanks.
For answering endless questions and providing tours of blood labs, I thank David Bowen and Julian Barth of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Anne Weaver, Karim Brohi, and others at the Royal London Hospital trauma department; and London’s Air Ambulance, including the three HEMS staff who allowed me to accompany their night shift around London in a fast car. This episode didn’t make it into the book because, thankfully, no one was profoundly injured. It was a pleasure sharing a near-midnight feast with you while alarming other diners with urgently orange uniforms.
I am grateful to Anurag Maloo, who interpreted for me in the corridors of Delhi hospitals (and also gave a pint of his blood for the first time); Laurence Hamburger and Stink TV for providing a last-minute home in Cape Town; and Colin Clay, for his obliging hospitality and research skills in Saskatoon. Many people in many press departments have answered my questions with patience. Particular thanks to Stephen Bailey of NHSBT; the London office of MSF, who arranged my Khayelitsha trip; and all the MSF staff in Khayelitsha who hosted me; as well as Laura Crowley and colleagues of WaterAid, who have answered many questions about periods. Thanks also to AABB for promptly answering such queries as “But how do you know it’s every two seconds?” with prompt yet authoritative numerical breakdowns.
For enabling various parts of my research, I thank Professor Sophie Scott, Natalie Cooper, Hannah Newman, and Claire Bromley. Anne Manuel, librarian of Somerville College, Oxford, obligingly granted me access to the college archives to research Janet Vaughan.
I detest transcribing—who doesn’t?—so am grateful to Jane Duffus, who transcribed endless interviews that often included difficult medical terminology with speed and skill. Dr. Margaret McCartney generously passed on my request to find doctors who might read through the manuscript, and Dr. Sarah Worboys, Dr. Pete Lowe, and Dr. Diana Wetherill read through drafts. If there are still any medical errors in the book, it is my fault not theirs. Other trusted readers were Molly Mackey (also known as Percy Oliver’s biggest fan), Thomas Ridgway, and Ruth Metzstein.
My agents Erin Malone and Siobhan O’Neill at William Morris Endeavor are unfailingly superb at what they do: attentive, caring, and as talented at managing yet another bout of panic as they are at sourcing inspirational Playmobile operating theatres. I’m very lucky. At Portobello Books, my book has been capably edited and cared for by Laura Barber and Ka Bradley, and copyedited by Mandy Woods with hawk-eye accuracy. The smart cover design is by James Paul Jones. Years after we began working together, I am still grateful to have landed in the peerless editing hands of Riva Hocherman at Metropolitan Books, who is as incisive and sharp as she is patient and understanding, all qualities that any author should seek in an editor. Thank you also to Grigory Tovbis, Christopher O’Connell, and others at Metropolitan for their editing, copyediting, and production skills. The excellent bloody cover of the Metropolitan edition was designed by Nicolette Seeback.
Two years ago, I was diagnosed as peri-menopausal. I’ve got my medication figured out now, more or less, but it has been a rocky road and I have lost many days to debilitating depression. Authors writing books
are tricky enough; authors going through the menopause writing books are trickier. So I thank again all my editors and agents, who—once I dared to tell the truth about why I couldn’t sometimes work—were extremely kind and compassionate. My best coping mechanism has been running in the fells so I’m grateful for the company and encouragement of all my fell-running friends and club mates. But it’s my friends, family, and partner who have dealt with the rockiness at close quarters and they have been exceptional. Thank you to my mother, Sheila Wainwright; to my siblings; nephew and nieces; and to Neil “Braveshorts” Wallace for his love, support, and company off and on the hills. Finally, I thank every phlebotomist, health-care assistant, trauma surgeon, GP, and the millions of others who work for our beloved but besieged National Health Service, seventy years old this year. It is under attack so let us borrow from Janet Vaughan’s operating system. Organize, and fight.
ALSO BY ROSE GEORGE
Ninety Percent of Everything
The Big Necessity
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ROSE GEORGE is the author of The Big Necessity and Ninety Percent of Everything. Her journalism has been published in The New York Times, Scientific American, The Guardian, and the New Statesman, among other publications. She lives in Yorkshire, England. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
1. My Pint
2. That Most Singular and Valuable Reptile
3. Janet and Percy
4. Blood Borne
5. The Yellow Stuff
6. Rotting Pickles
7. Nasty Cloths
8. Code Red
9. Blood Like Guinness: The Future
Notes
Further Reading
Index
Acknowledgments
Also by Rose George
About the Author
Copyright
NINE PINTS. Copyright © 2018 by Rose George. All rights reserved. For information, address Henry Holt and Co., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.henryholt.com
Parts of this book originally appeared, in somewhat different form, in articles in Longreads.com (chapter 3, “Janet and Percy”) and in Mosaic Science (chapter 6, “Rotting Pickles”).
Cover design by Nicolette Seeback
Cover photograph © Martin Barrand/Getty Images
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: George, Rose, 1969– author.
Title: Nine pints: a journey through the money, medicine, and mysteries of blood / Rose George.
Description: First edition. | New York: Metropolitan Books/ Henry Holt and Company, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018013647 | ISBN 9781627796378 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Blood.
Classification: LCC QP91 .G37 2018 | DDC 612.1/1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018013647
e-ISBN 9781627796385
First Edition: October 2018
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
