American Red Cross officials in Southern California have announced a near crisis due to a shortage in blood supplies. If supplies are not replenished, the Red Cross will lack the blood types needed for treating trauma patients and newborns.

As incentive to donate blood, the Red Cross is offering a chance to enter a daily drawing to win a $100 gift card for gasoline until September 7.

I recently took defibrillator training at work and something really took me by surprise. When you are trained to defibrulate you also get trained in CPR also. My thought was in most cases it would be used for choking victims........NO! In most cases if you are going to save someones life it will be due to a heart attack.

Since, I was pretty amazed by these statistics, I thought I would share the warning signs of a heart attack...

Women should learn the heart attack warning signs. These are:

Pain or discomfort in the center of the chest.
 

Mellanie True Hills explains what being on Coumadin was like.

Mellanie explains the Simple 5-Step Program (HEART Program). Mellanie True Hills is a heart survivor, an AFIB patient advocate and the author of A Woman's Guide to Saving Her Own Life: The HEART Program for Health & Longevity.

Stress reduction through heart coherence, by Vreni Gurd, is great food for thought for anyone dealing with stress, especially for those with atrial fibrillation triggered by stress.

Some interesting comments from the article:

The brain and the heart are connected via the autonomic peripheral nervous system, which is not under conscious control and regulates organ function.

Dr. Shukla describes a process known as Catheter-Based Mapping. Dr. Himanshu H. Shukla specializes in treating heart rhythm disorders and is founder of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute (CAI) dedicated to providing heart care customized to the individual. Dr. Shukla is a member of the Heart Rhythm Society, has completed training at Columbia University in New York City, the University of Missouri and the University of Oklahoma.

(HealthDay News) -- Iron is an essential mineral that the body needs to make red blood cells.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine says these people are at greater risk for iron deficiency, and should ask their doctor about getting enough iron-rich foods:

* Menstruating women, and those with especially heavy periods.
* Women who are pregnant or who have recently had a baby.
* People who are long-distance runners.
* Vegetarians.
* People with a bleeding ulcer or intestinal bleeding disorder.
* People who donate blood often.

Dr. Brian deGuzman explains why heart patients should be active participants in their own care.

Dr. DeGuzman addresses the question, "Why Is It Important To Cure Atrial Fibrillation?"

Listen to Dr. DeGuzman talk about the functions of the left atrial in the heart.