BACKGROUND:Blood transfusion is a very crucial component to manage patients suffering from various medical conditions. Voluntary blood donors are the need of the hour. There is a need to spread awareness among general population and students about blood donation to maintain a regular blood supply. Young medical students can serve as best example to take a lead in this noble cause. OBJECTIVE: To assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of Blood Donation among 1 st and 2 nd year MBBS students of a Medical College. MATERIAL AND METHODS:The cross sectional study was conducted in a medical college in Kollam district of Kerala in September 2013 among all 1 st and 2 nd year medical students. A separate Health awareness session was organized. Data was collected and analyzed with the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) 12. RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS: Not a single participant answered all knowledge questions correctly. Only 35% had adequate knowledge. The gender has no significant association with knowledge about blood donation. 90% of the respondents had a positive attitude about blood donation. Religion only plays a minor role in their decision to donate blood. Only 10% actually donated blood. 57% students gave blood to a needy relative. The most common reason for not donating blood was having no opportunity. There is a significant association between 2 nd year students and blood donation. After awareness session, the overall willingness to donate blood increased from 89.3% to 97.1%. CONCLUSION: Only one third of students have adequate knowledge level regarding blood donation. Only few among them have donated blood. Majority of them intend to donate blood in future. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities should be increased and regular seminars and classes should be conducted to increase awareness among medical students for encouraging them to donate blood voluntarily.

No abstract

Aging is believed to be a first-order risk factor for most neurodegenerative disorders. Brain changes do not occur to the same extent in all brain regions.7 Men and women may also differ with frontal and temporal lobes most affected in men compared with the hippocampus and parietal lobes in women. The neurotransmitters most often discussed with regard to ageing are dopamine, serotonin and acetyl-choline. Vestibular stimulation modulates the neuro-transmitters which are involved in brain aging and delay aging. Hence we recommend controlled vestibular stimulation to all. This in the need of time to identify the importance of vestibular system and to start translational research in this area.

The number of Granule cells in the human cerebellar cortex and its quantitative variation with respect to age was studied in seventy human cerebellums using light microscopy. The study revealed a progressive decrease in number of granule cells with increase in the fibre components. The number of granule cells showed statistically significant negative correlation with age. This study provides more information regarding the quantitative histological structure of human cerebellar cortex.

Nearly 3/4(th) of the study subjects were aware that they have hypertension. Monetary problems were an important cause for non-compliance. Half of the patients taking antihypertensive medication had their blood pressure uncontrolled. Patient's economic status should be considered before advising them medications. This will increase compliance and help in improving the quality of patient care.