Source: Newcastle Donor Centre

There is no need to spend hours on end shopping for the perfect gift this year– head to your nearest Donor Centre or mobile unit and give blood. After all, it’s the ultimate gift – life!

With every blood donation helping to save three lives, you can give a special gift to those in need of blood or blood products over the holiday period.

According to Michelle Buxton (Nurse Unit Manager of The Newcastle Donor Centre), the need for blood doesn’t take a holiday:

“With fewer collection days due to the holiday breaks we need to ensure there is enough blood for those in need over Christmas.” Ms Buxton said.

“Over the two week festive period, Australia needs 42,000 blood donations to meet the demand for blood in hospitals around the country.”

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Source: Medica

New compounds that act like the red wine ingredient resveratrol may offer a new formula for type 2 diabetes drugs and other age-related diseases, researchers at US drug maker Sirtris Pharmaceuticals said.

"The excitement here is that we’re not talking about red wine anymore. We’re talking about real drugs," said David Sinclair, an associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and a co-founder of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Sirtris.

"This is the first time that real drugs have been designed to go after diseases through the genes that control aging," said Sinclair, whose research appears in the journal Nature.

"One of the drawbacks of resveratrol is the doses need to be large. Now this paper says you can reduce it into a little pill taken once a day," he said in a telephone interview.

Sinclair and researchers at Sirtris have been looking for drug compounds that mimic the effects of resveratrol, the chemical in red wine that has been shown in several studies to prolong the life of mice and reduce the advance of age-related disease.

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Source: ABC Health & Wellbeing

It’s a time of celebration, but Christmas day with the family can be nerve-wracking and depressing. We offer some tips on how to cope.

A little over 2000 years ago, cherubic little Jesus was born on December 25, and we’ve had hangovers the next day ever since.

Now, some people are unkind enough to suggest the day is a total fiction – simply the Christian version of ancient winter festivals held in the lull between crop sowing and harvesting seasons.

Well, bah humbug to them.

What a harmonious scene the nativity was, considering the difference in wealth and status amongst the crowd (wealthy Kings from the Orient mixing it with Galilean tradesmen), the various ethnic differences ("I see a great future for Jerusalem!"), not to mention the lack of refreshment, as no-one thought to bring a plate.

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