[During the assessment of blood donor candidates the physician considers two factors; first, whether the loss of 450 ml blood would be of any risk for them (e.g., because of hypotension) and second, whether they have any illness, current (seasonal allergy, antibiotic use, etc.) or chronic conditions (oncological or autoimmune disease, drug use, etc.) that may confer risk to the recipient. For the safety of blood preparations it is essential that the donors are dependable individuals who lead a lifestyle of low risk of getting infected (by HIV, hepatitis, etc.). Hungarian practice concerning donor qualification are generally stricter (e.g., because of the differences in the health care system, in the health culture) than the directive of the European Union. This implies that a number of donor candidates are temporarily or permanently disqualified. Following medical interventions (e.g., surgery, transfusion), environmental effects (e.g., radiation exposure) and recovery from diseases, however, the donor may again give blood after a certain period of time. Certain chronic diseases, if properly managed and if the patient is in perfect general condition, do not constitute a cause for exclusion either. General practicioners can greatly contribute to safe national blood supply by identifying and advising potential blood donors.]

[The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus has recently dramatically increased worldwide. While many factors contribute to the startling data, including changes in the diagnostic criteria of glucose intolerance, increase of life expectancy, manifestation of diabetes at younger ages, and increased detection of unrecognized diabetes due to more efficient screening, the genuine, steep rise in the incidence of diabetes is explained by the increasing prevalence of obesity. Among the late complications of both diabetes and obesity, cardiovascular diseases are particularly important. Insulin resistance due to visceral obesity plays a central role in the pathomechanism of type 2 diabetes. In the prevention of both type 2 diabetes and obesity, non-pharmacological intervention such as life style changes should be considered first. Supplementary pharmacological treatment should target all cardiovascular risk factors.]

[The pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease is only partly understood; various environmental and host factors (e.g., genetic, epithelial, immune and non-immune) are involved. It is a multifactorial polygenic disease probably with genetic heterogeneity; some genes confer susceptibility to IBD in general, while others specifically increase the risk of ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease or affect location (localized or extensive) and/or behaviour (e.g., mild, severe, aggressive). This review presents recent advances in the genetics of inflammatory bowel disease including chromosome segments newly recognized to be involved in inflammatory bowel disease as well as the role of NOD2/CARD15, SLC22A4/A5 and DLG5. The increasing genetic information provides, for the time being, a better understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease thus setting a basis for potential targets for therapeutic intervention. In the future, however, genetics may also help in refining the diagnosis or predicting disease course.]