I make a difference....

A day at the Red Cross blood drive.....

It was my first day at the Red Cross blood drive as a volunteer. Despite the rainy morning, many were walking in to help out with the cause of saving many lives. Some of them were first time donors and about to pass out at the very thought of a needle pricking in. It is an incredible feeling to walk them through their fear of donation and help save someone's life.

I could see the disappointment on those who were deferred from donating either due to medical reasons or recent travel out of US.  It was interesting to learn that people who have been in Germany and some other European countries in the 1980's and early 90's are not allowed to donate due to the risk of getting Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD). Unfortunately, I couldn't donate my blood though; since you can't donate if you were out of US or Canada in the past 12 months.

It is indeed a great satisfaction to be a part of the American Red Cross in their mission; to make a difference in someone's life.

Angel dust .... to ...snake bite..

"As the Chennai mail screeches to a lazy halt, a six-foot tall Nigerian walks out along with the restless passengers and was nabbed and ........." Reading the news felt much similar to a crime thriller. The story was about two men  trying to smuggle cobra venom and the dangerous rise in the use of it as a substance of abuse in different parts of the world. Snake venom, in highly diluted form, is emerging as a designer narcotic drug in many parts of the world. Reports suggest that it gives tremendous high and works well for long-heroin users. This is shocking and seemingly dangerous.

The cases of snake bite for abuse have been reported in Substance Abuse Journal. The abusers, both long term addicts of various substances, received snake bite with the help of nomadic snake charmers. Both of them felt dizzy and had blurred vision followed by a sense of heightened arousal and sense of well being lasting for a few hours. They felt sort of grandiosity than  given by a regular narcotic drug. 

Cobra venom is made of enzymes and lipids. The neurotoxic venom can cause paralysis and respiratory arrest. Cobratoxin, a component of the venom prevents acetylcholine molecules from binding receptors blocking synaptic transmissions, resulting in a temporary relaxation of the muscles similar to certain common drugs of abuse. 

So keep in mind of another emerging substance abuse scenario  you may have to deal with in the near future.

References: Wikipedia

Sleep and lose ten pounds instantly.....

Yummy cheesy pizza and a diet coke ....(sounds funny,but to save me from the guilt of extra calories)....I can't resist eating but only with the strong resolution to start exercising from tomorrow morning  itself...... but tomorrow never comes ...as i always look forward to another auspicious day.. I always wished if there could be something to wash away the fat ...... 

And I was wonderstruck to  read about Harvard's new research innovation... a new hormone injection.....Irisin.... the ultimate dream of obese people and weight watchers across the world.

Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts, Harvard Medical School, University of California and Denmark’s Odense University Hospital, among others, have found that some of the most widely recognized effects of exercise on muscle are mediated by irisin. The study has been published in the latest issue of the scientific journal 'Nature'. Except for that it doesn't build muscles, all the other good things that happen after exercise can be reproduced with the drug...Another miracle from the great research happenings...

The hormone has been found to act in two ways. It promotes the conversion of inert yellow fat to the metabolically more active brown fat, and facilitates insulin action, thus decreasing blood glucose levels(great for diabetics... wow!!!). The researchers found irisin to be present in the blood of human volunteers who had undergone 10 weeks of exercise. 

The researchers are continuing to explore irisins possible health benefits, including potentially even being used in the treatment of Parkinsons disease because the process appears to have protective effects on mitochondrial metabolism as well. The researchers  again advocate strongly....... there is no substitute for toiling in the gym....

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irisin

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