Roll up your sleeves: January is Volunteer Blood Donor Month
Maybe you just never thought about giving blood. Or maybe you wanted to donate, but were too busy. Whatever the reason, now is the time to do it. The winter months can be especially hard on the nation’s blood supplies, with potential donors being kept away by illness, bad weather or holiday travel. Unfortunately, the need for blood never wanes. Pick up your local paper or log on to the American Red Cross’s blood donation site at www.givelife.org to find a blood drive near you. Or just head to your local blood bank—most don’t require an appointment. Check out www.aabb.org/Content/Donate_Blood/Where_to_Donate/ to find a blood bank near you. Need more inspiration? Check out these facts about donating blood, courtesy of America’s Blood Centers:
  • Thirty-eight percent of Americans are eligible to donate blood, but fewer than 10 percent do every year. To meet minimum donor requirements, you must be at least 16 or 17 years old (depending on where you live), weigh a minimum of 110 pounds and be in overall good health. Certain conditions, such as pregnancy, make you ineligible.
  • You can’t get AIDS or any other infectious disease by donating blood. Collection kits are used only once.
  • Thirteen tests are performed on each pint of donated blood to ensure the safety of our blood supply.
  • Blood can be separated into different parts: red blood cells, plasma, platelets and cryoprecipitate. These components can help everyone from burn victims to people undergoing cancer treatments.
  • One pint of blood can save up to three lives.

MP3 headphones can break your rhythm
If you use a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator, keep your iPod’s headphones away from your heart. The headphones contain a magnetic substance called neodymium, which can deactivate these devices or interfere with functioning, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008 in New Orleans. In the study of 60 people, 15 percent of pacemakers and 30 percent of defibrillators were affected by the headphones. While likely not life-threatening, your best bet is to keep headphones at least 1.2 inches from these implantable devices. That means don’t hang your headphones around your neck and don’t store them in your shirt pocket. No link was found with the MP3 players themselves, or in iPhones or BlueTooth technology.

Can bananas lower your blood pressure?
You know that cutting back on processed and salty foods can help lower your blood pressure. But did you know that eating more foods with potassium may produce the same result? Previous studies have reported this finding, and new research presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s annual meeting adds further proof. Doctors examined 3,300 people and found that the less potassium in subjects’ diets, the higher their blood pressure. About half of the people studied were African-American, a group known for consuming low amounts of potassium. So if you’re looking to lower your blood pressure without medication, in addition to exercising and lowering stress, try both dietary tactics: Take in more potassium-rich foods like bananas, tomatoes, cantaloupes and avocados and skip the extra salt.

Flu shots cut down on clots

That annual flu shot may do more than protect against flu: It could also reduce your risk of developing a blood clot, say French researchers at the University Paris Descartes. They followed some 1,400 people—half with one episode of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism (when the blood clot travels to the lung) and half without a history of blood clots—for five years. Overall, people who got the flu shot were 26 percent less likely to develop deep vein thrombosis. The benefit was even greater for younger people: Forty-eight percent of people under age 52 who got immunized were less likely to have a clot form than those who didn’t get the shot. Among women under age 51 who received the flu vaccine, blood-clot risk was reduced by 50 percent. Experts aren’t quite sure how the flu shot cuts blood-clot risks, but they’re hoping these findings spur more people to get vaccinated. Have you gotten your flu shot yet?