Inclement weather and flu season tend to depress blood donations. All blood types are needed, but especially O negative, A negative and B negative.
According to the American Red Cross, blood donation does not make us more susceptible to the flu. There's no waiting period to donate blood after receiving a seasonal flu vaccine, either. The main thing is that donors should feel well on the day of donation.
The organization is asking donors to help by beginning a SleevesUp campaign. And it's really a clever idea in which volunteers can organize their own virtual donation drive, no blood mobile needed.
Volunteers set up a marketing campaign online and send invitations to friends and family around the country to join in and donate blood.
It's sort of like when a friend has a birthday party or anniversary celebration and instead of gifts, asks for canned goods that will be donated to a food pantry or charity.
What a wonderful way to celebrate a milestone event where gifts just aren't needed. People could ask for donations of money or blood in the name of a friend or loved one. Blood truly is a gift that will keep on giving and giving and giving.
For information on the SleevesUp campaign or a list of donation opportunities, go to RedCrossBlood.org.
FREE TESTS
I've written about the McCain Mall Fit Heart Walkers before. It's a great program put together by Arkansas Heart Hospital.
This Saturday, the Fit Heart folks will be on the lower level of McCain Mall in North Little Rock from 8:30 a.m. to noon offering a free heart attack risk assessment. Organizers suggest it as helpful for people who need a little checkup or a dose of reality.
The assessment includes checks of blood pressure, total cholesterol, trigylcerides, blood glucose, HDL (good cholesterol), LDL (bad cholesterol) and total risk ratio.
With a simple finger stick they will be able to give you all your numbers. Machines take about 10 minutes to process the information. No appointment is needed.
Organizers expect participants to fast for these blood tests. Water, unsweetened tea and black coffee are OK to drink before the screening, but food is not allowed after midnight the night before.
GROUSING
While doing some Internet research the other day I ran across an article on the website of The Washington Free Beacon written by Elizabeth Harrington. The title caught my attention -- "Feds Spend $499,880 to Teach Doctors How to Talk to Fat Kids."
I did quite the double-take.
The story describes a new project from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that uses computer-simulated training sessions to teach Minnesota doctors how to talk to fat kids.
Harrington writes that it's the latest attempt by the federal government to combat obesity. The grant for the project claims that health professionals in primary-care settings are influential in the lives of families. I'd say the jury is still out on that one.
The grant was awarded to SIMmerson LLC, a communications training company that simulates conversations using virtual actors. They will create three role-play scenarios for doctors to practice "sharing concerns about a child's weight with a parent," how to follow up with appointments after the initial "discussion" and speaking to children directly about "healthy choices."
These days, if they can't see it on a cellphone, tablet or computer, many kids won't listen at all.
I wrote in a past column about my struggles with weight growing up. I have two sisters, one older and one younger. Both are shorter than I am and thin. That chapped my hide many times through the years.
We ate the same food. We played outside the same amount. But I lost out in the genetic lottery. I was and still am husky. I like that word better than "fat" or "obese."
Having been that fat child, the years have made me cynical, disillusioned and at times downright jaded concerning people talking to me about my weight. I do not need anyone to tell me I need to lose weight. Especially not a stick-thin fitness "celebrity" who makes a ton of money off those who try to listen.
I am not really sure why it bothers me so much. I guess it's from years of being told that I need to lose weight in order to be acceptable. I've heard it from doctors, too. But thankfully, my mother didn't pressure or guilt me at all. She has always been there supporting all my efforts, and that is the most important thing.
The bottom line, from my perspective, is that you can tell me, suggest, cajole and maybe even try to bribe me, but if I'm not willing to make the effort, I won't.
What I really need is a job at SIMmerson. They've been paid more than $11 million in federal grants since 2004 for training people. Currently, tax dollars are paying them to train "Greek life staff" and college advisers on campuses to talk to students who drink too much. To the tune of more than $727,000.
Sigh!
Email me at:
rboggs@arkansasonline.com
ActiveStyle on 01/26/2015