Chemical found in medical devices impairs heart function

"Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that a chemical commonly used in the production of such medical plastic devices as intravenous (IV) bags and catheters can impair heart function in rats. Appearing online this week in the American Journal of Physiology, these new findings suggest a possible new reason for some of the common side effects - loss of taste, short term memory loss - of medical procedures that require blood to be circulated through plastic tubing outside the body, such as heart bypass surgery or kidney dialysis. These findings also have strong implications for the future of medical plastics manufacturing. In addition to loss of taste and memory, coronary bypass patients often complain of swelling and fatigue. These side effects usually resolve within a few months after surgery, but they are troubling and sometimes hinder recovery." - EurekAlert

More blood donors needed to handle Canada-wide demand

"Canadian blood reserves are dipping to dangerous levels, say officials, and now they are scrambling to find ways to get back to a comfort zone. Ron Vezina, a spokesman for Canadian Blood Services, says some blood types are down to less than half the usual levels, despite a productive summer. 'Summer is typically a tough time to recruit blood donors . . . but we actually did fairly well, but in September and October, we couldn't keep up with the hospital demand,' Vezina said. 'If you have an imbalance of demand from the hospital and not enough supply, you dip into your reserves and you want to have four to six days of blood inventory running to sustain an interruption in service or natural disaster . . . but on some critical blood types, we're down to two days'" - Canada.com