Having A Bath – Steptoe Style
One the funniest episodes of the 1960s TV series; Steptoe and Son, is when the father has a bath.
In this episode, amongst other things, he washes his clothes in the bath, whilst washing himself.
I had a mask that needed a quick wash, and as my washing machine has died, I thought why not?
So armed with some Fairy Liquid, the mask joined me for a wash.
Incidentally, I like to have a hot bath every day, as I have very dry eyes, that always get bunged up with sleep. An optician in Vision Express suggested the bath to improve my eyesight and it seems to help.
Will There Be A Sports And Arts Bounceback As There Was After World War II?
This may be optimism, but after World War II, all sports had massive attendances, and I wonder if the same thing will happen, when we get a 100 % reliable vaccine against the covids?
There was even a great desire for fun during the war, as this news item on British Pathe, which is entitled Wartime Derby at Newmarket 1941 shows.
There are several horse racing videos of this period on YouTube.
Perhaps, the proximity of Newmarket to the major fighter base at Duxford, meant that the Luftwaffe didn’t feel safe to attack Newmarket in daylight? Or their intelligent was bad.
Fighting My Way Through The Covids
I owe it to the memory of my great-great-great-grandfather; Robert, who arrived in this country around 1800, from Konigsberg in East Prussia, that I fight my way through the covids.
He had to leave Konigsberg because he was eighteen, male and Jewish! Unless, you were a member of a privileged family, you had to leave. As he had just finished his apprenticeship to be a tailor, he at least had a trade and could carry the tools he needed in a small case.
He became a tailor in Bexley and lived to a good age. I am also sure, that he contributed coeliac disease to the family’s gene pool.
In this post, I will talk about various topics, as I fight my way through to normality.
On the mother’s side of the family, the male line in Huguenot, who probably arrived about 1750.
Did I Fall Because Of A Blood Pressure Problem?
I had a fall in my bedroom, a couple of months ago, as I wrote about in An Accident In My Bedroom.
My GP thinks I might have a blood pressure problem, so I’m now taking my blood pressure sitting down and then standing up for five minutes before taking it again.
These are my readings.
- September 1st – 132/74/182 – 123/102/79
- September 2nd – 145/75/85 – 138/51/82
- September 3rd – 102/77/69 – 123/64/87
- September 3rd – 143/74/75 – 150/64/74
- September 4th – 140/54/64 – 139/64/73
- September 4th – 124/62/92 – 120/51/79
- September 5th – 106/67/51 – 138/52/64
- September 5th – 127/78/67 – 136/62/73
- September 6th – 10:45 – 138/104/76 – 116/53/55
- September 6th – 16:00 – 138/63/54 – 137/88/74
- September 6th – 22:00 – 136/71/59 – 131/77/61
- September 7th – 09:30 – 147/98/76 – 152/82/75
- September 7th – 22:30 – 164/80/74 – 145/61/77
- September 8th – 09:15 – 121/77/66 – 119/71/66
- September 8th – 11:45 – 109/47/70 – 119/48/78
- September 9th – 08:45 – 114/70/73 – 137/51/73 – 129/64/92
- December 9th – 11:00 – 107/146/73 – 143/43/83 – 116/49/87
- September 9th – 20:00 – 131/54/84 – 140/53/78
- September 9th – 21:30 – 131/78/80 – 156/64/81
- September 10th – 10:00 – 148/77/74 – 141/78/63
- September 10th – 13:00 – 106/61/82 – 122/60/81
- September 11th – 09:15 – 137/44/71 – 135/80/66
- September 11th – 10:00 – 126/72/72 – 116/58/70
- September 12th – 10:30 – 119/69/78 – 117/66/70
- September 12th – 20:00 – 111/68/75 – 140/78/69
- September 13th – 10:45 – 112/73/61 – 109/57/69
- September 13th – 15:30 – 106/59/62 – 110/43/65
- September 14th – 09:30 – 116/63/91 – 109/61/85
- September 14th – 17:15 – 117/59/97 – 126/57/79
- September 15th – 08:30 – 134/78/54 – 107/75/76
- September 16th – 06:00 – 113/79/77 – 130/66/80
- September 17th – 09:00 – 117/69/91 – 113/50/63
- September 17th – 22:00 – 118/54/85 – 146/76/86
- September 18th – 09:00 – 147/81/69 – 139/71/67
- September 18th – 21:00 – 124/109/69 – 113/60/83
- September 19th – 10:00 – 143/57/66 – 152/83/75
- September 19th – 19:00 – 118/57/55 – 121/74/81
- September 20th – 09:50 – 143/69/52 – 135/67/66
- September 21st – 09:30 – 158/72/73 – 150/73/66
- September 22nd – 09:15 – 147/49/77 – 149/59/73
- September 22nd – 20:22 – 108/65/82 – 141/66/73
- September 23rd – 08:10 – 140/63/70 – 109/73/60
- September 23rd – 15:00 – 97/65/83 – 109/61/68
- September 24th – 09:00 – 134/52/74 – 143/62/62
- September 25th – 09:00 – 149/70/69 – 130/92/77
- September 25th – 13:00 – 108/75/78 – 135/68/73
- September 26th – 17:30 – 120/62/77 – 124/63/68
- September 27th – 10:00 – 139/64/74 – 132/70/74
- September 28th – 08:00 – 140/73/77 – 140/73/60
Note.
- The first reading is sitting down and the second is after standing up for five minutes.
- My blood pressure meter isn’t the best.
- I didn’t note the times, when I started.
- The third reading is taken about four minutes later.
I don’t know anything about understanding these readings.
Managing My INR
My GP and I have agreed that I should be on 3.5 mg. of Warfarin a day to control my INR.
- So I alternate between 3 and 4 mg.
- I also test my INR every two days.
These are my figures for the last few days, with my Warfarin dose.
- September 1st – 4 mg – N/R
- September 2nd – 3 mg – 2.5
- September 3rd – 4 mg – N/R
- September 4th – 3 mg – 2.7
- September 5th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 6th – 3 mg – 2.8
- September 7th – 3 mg – N/R
- September 8th – 4 mg – 2.4
- September 9th – 3 mg – N/R
- September 10th – 4 mg – 2.3
- September 11th – 3 mg – 2.7
- September 12th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 13th – 3 mg – 2.5
- September 14th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 15th – 4 mg – 2.2
- September 16th – 3 mg – N/R
- September 17th – 5 mg – 2.2
- September 18th – 3 mg – 2.8
- September 19th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 20th – 4 mg. – 2.5
- September 21st – 3 mg – N/R
- September 22nd – 4 mg – 2.2
- September 23rd – 3 mg – 2.3
- September 24th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 25th – 3 mg – 2.4
- September 26th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 27th – 4 mg – 2.1
- September 28th – 3 mg – 2.4
Note.
- If the INR is 2.5 or greater, I take 3 mg that day and 4, the next.
- If it’s less than 2.5, I take 4 mg that day and 3 the next,
- I also check the 30 day average of my Warfarin dose and currently it is 3.6.
One advantage about Warfarin, is the degree of control, you have of your INR.
A couple of years ago, I needed to have a small operation on my mouth.
The surgeon wanted to use an anaesthetist to boost the bill.
- So I said, what INR would be safe and he said 2.1!
- In the end I reduced it, by not taking four mg of the drug.
- After the successful operation, I brought it back up to 2.5, by taking an extra four mg.
- I suspect it cost me a tenner for the extra strips!
Good value and I avoided the lottery of anaesthesia.
I’m Drinking A Lot
In a four-hour period a few days ago, I drank two litres. Is that excessive?
It did include half a unit of alcohol, but was mainly mugs of tea.
And I still felt the need to drink more.
General Health
Like most coeliacs, I know on a gluten-free diet, I’m doing fairly well in the pandemic.
Not one of us has had a severe dose of the covids. But then I’ve never had flu since I went gluten-free and I’ve only had a flu jab since 2005.
Could this be related to the fact, that the gluten-free diet gives us a strong immune system and seems to protect us from cancer, according to research by Joe West at Nottingham University?
Social Distancing In An Empty Train
On Sunday morning, I went to Croydon to look at Windmill Bridge, in Croydon, which I wrote about in Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme – Lower Addiscombe Road / Windmill Bridge.
On the way, I found myself in a more or less empty carriage, as these pictures show.
It all got me thinking.
- Generally, the rule in most of the world, is that you should keep a given number of metres apart.
- But supposing, that each public space were to be given a figure for the maximum number of people, who can occupy the space.
- I think, this has already happened in London, where thirty passengers seems to be the maximum number allowed on a double-deck bus.
- Buses and train carriages are public spaces.
But supposing each space was to be assigned a figure for the number of people present, below which the wearing of masks would be optional.
On a bus or train, the customer announcements would change appropriately.
Some might argue, it would be confusing, but it might nudge passenger behaviour in the right way.
- More might travel.
- More might travel at less busy times.
- I suspect that many on a long commute, take their masks off, as they get near home, as te train empties out anyway!
- It should be born in mind, that many modern trains, trams and buses, may know how many passengers are on board, as they can count passengers.
A Design Crime – Pedestrian Chaos At London Bridge
To get home from London Bridge station, I usually get the 141 bus in the station, or if I’m walking along the riverside, I get a 21 or 141 bus from the stop at the Southern side of the bridge.
There is now, no stop on the bridge, so it meant walking nearly to Bank station to get a bus. Not everybody of my age could manage that!
I hope the pea-brained idiot, who designed the current scheme at London Bridge, with no bus stops in either direction has been given his marching orders.
I know that for COVID-19 and wannabe terrorists something must be done, but surely one of the bus-stops in each direction should be working.
I suspect, it was designed by the same idiot, who decided to close the important Waterloo and City Line.
The Mayor won’t care, as he’s a South Londoner.
Care Homes In England Had Greatest Increase In Excess Deaths At Height Of The COVID-19 Pandemic
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the University of Stirling web site.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Care homes in England experienced the highest increase in excess deaths at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to those in the rest of the UK, according to new research.
The actual figures are as follows.
- England – 79 %
- Northern Ireland – 46 %
- Scotland – 62 %
- Wales – 66 %
So why are the three Celtic nations, doing better than England?
In A Thought On Deaths Of The Elderly From Covid-19, I said this.
How many undiagnosed coeliacs are there in those over seventy, who because they are coeliacs, have a compromised immune system?
I would be undiagnosed but for that elderly locum!
How many other coeliacs are there in the UK population?
-
- Age UK has a figure of twelve million who are over 65 in the UK.
- If 1-in-100, as stated by Coeliac UK, in the UK are coeliac, that is 120,000 undiagnosed coeliacs over 65.
Will these 120,000 people have a compromised immune system, that makes them more susceptible to Covid-19?
It has been said, that a good immune system helps you fight Covid-19!
If those 120,000 elderly undiagnosed coeliacs have a compromised immune system, how many are in poor health with cancer, arthritis and general poor health and have decided that a care home is best.
Coeliac Disease And The Celts
The Irish have a history of coeliac disease, which I have heard suggested goes back to the potato famine.
Certainly, the whole island of Ireland is a coeliac friendly place compared to some parts of England. Although, Liverpool with its strong Irish heritage is an exception.
Conclusion
I do wonder, if understanding of coeliac disease in the three Celtic nations is better than it is in England and a higher proportion of elderly coeliacs have been diagnosed.
Any younger coeliac born after about 1980, has probably been picked up, for the simple reason, that most GPs these days take regular blood tests and do seem to be more knowledgeable about the disease than GPs were before about 1980.
According to my GP, to test a child, is normally just a simple blood test and an analysis at a lab. Only a few cases, will need an endoscopy.
So do we have this population of undiagnosed coeliacs with compromised immune systems in English care homes?
Perhaps, everybody in a care home, should be tested for coeliac disease?
If nothing else, it may save money on cancer care, as diagnosed coeliacs on a gluten-free diet are 25 % less likely to suffer from cancer.
Eurostar Plans To Start Direct Amsterdam – London Trains In October
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette International.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Cross-Channel high speed operator Eurostar has confirmed its intention to launch direct Amsterdam – London St Pancras services from October 26, complementing the London – Amsterdam trains which have run since April 2018.
The article then goes on to give more details of the service.
- Security checks will be undertaken at Amsterdam CS and Rotterdam Centraal stations.
- Amsterdam to London will be nine minutes over four hours.
- There will initially be two trains per day.
- There was a hint of more next year.
- It will carry Shengen area passengers between Amsterdam and Brussels.
Eurostar says it will offer flexible booking options to help, if the Government changes COVID-19 quarantine regulations.
Conclusion
It looks a sensible offering and as I’ve used it between London and Amsterdam three times, I will be trying to fit in a trip before the end of the year.
Pancreatic Cancer Deaths Around The World
This data is from a web site called World Life Expectancy.
My son died at just 37 and if I can save one person’s family, from the same anguish, that I have suffered, it would have been worth it.
The data is World Health Organisation data from 2018, and the figures shown are as follows.
- Age adjusted death rate per 100,000 of the population
- World ranking
- Rating in the country of pancreatic cancer amongst all deaths.
The country name links to the data.
- Argentina – 7.78 – 31 – 16
- Armenia – 10.34 – 3 – 15
- Australia – 6.25 – 50 – 13
- Austria – 9.13 – 10 – 12
- Bangladesh – 0.77 – 176 – >50
- Barbados – 7.99 – 22 – 22
- Belgium – 7.34 – 38 – 12
- Bulgaria – 7.91 – 25 – 15
- Cambodia – 1.79 – 139 – 48
- Canada – 6.40 – 47 – 13
- China – 4.07 – 85 – 22
- Cote d’Ivoire – 3.81 – 88 – 48
- Croatia – 8.05 – 18 – 15
- Cyprus – 6.50 – 45 – 15
- Czech Republic – 9.89 – 5 – 14
- Denmark – 8.51 – 16 – 12
- Estonia – 9.26 – 6 – 15
- Ethiopia – 1.16 – 165 – >50
- Finland – 8.78 – 11 – 11
- France – 7.92 – 24 – 10
- Germany – 8.68 – 14 – 13
- Greece – 7.36 – 37 – 10
- Haiti – 2.99 – 107 – 42
- Hungary – 11.35 – 1 – 13
- Iceland – 9.21 – 7 – 10
- India – 1.63 – 146 – >50
- Iran – 2.28 – 128 – 27
- Iraq – 1.39 – 99 – 37
- Ireland – 6.83 – 40 – 14
- Israel – 9.18 – 8 – 12
- Italy – 7.41 – 36 – 10
- Japan – 8.74 – 12 – 10
- Laos – 1.15 – 167 – >50
- Latvia – 6.72 – 13 – 14
- Lithuania – 8.21 – 19 – 15
- Luxembourg – 8.15 – 20 – 12
- Malta – 10.01 – 4 – 11
- Netherlands – 8.38 – 17 – 11
- New Zealand – 5.69 – 53 – 15
- Niger – 1.77 – 142 – 50
- Nigeria – 2.30 – 120 – >50
- Norway – 7.78 – 30 – 11
- Pakistan – 0.51 – 182 – >50
- Russia – 7.86 – 29 – 20
- Slovakia – 9.17 – 9 – 14
- Slovenia – 8.55 – 15 – 12
- South Africa – 4.89 – 71 – 33
- South Korea – 6.75 – 42 – 15
- Spain – 6.32 – 49 – 11
- Sweden – 8.15 – 21 – 12
- Switzerland – 7.49 – 34 – 11
- United Kingdom – 6.55 – 44 – 14
- United States – 7.96 – 23 – 17
- Uruquay – 10.72 – 2 – 15
- Vietnam – 0.75 – 178 – 50
These are a few of my thoughts.
The Top Ten Countries
These are the top ten countries.
- Hungary
- Uruguay
- Armemia
- Malta
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- Iceland
- Israel
- Slovakia
- Austria
The full list is on the World Life Expectancy web site.
From the top ten, it looks to me, that pancreatic cancer seems to be common in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire.
I also think there could be a Jewish connection.
In the history of Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Empire on Wikipedia, this is an extract, that talks about Jews around 1900.
In that period, the majority of Jews in Austria-Hungary lived in small towns (shtetls) in Galicia and rural areas in Hungary and Bohemia; however, they had large communities and even local majorities in the downtown districts of Vienna, Budapest and Prague. Of the pre-World War I military forces of the major European powers, the Austro-Hungarian army was almost alone in its regular promotion of Jews to positions of command. While the Jewish population of the lands of the Dual Monarchy was about five percent, Jews made up nearly eighteen percent of the reserve officer corps. Thanks to the modernity of the constitution and to the benevolence of emperor Franz Joseph, the Austrian Jews came to regard the era of Austria-Hungary as a golden era of their history.
That doesn’t sound like they were suffering large amounts of anti-semitism, as they had for a long time in the Baltic States and East Prussia, where my ancestor emigrated to England around 1800.
I need some help here from a Jewish historian.
But the statistics and geography are indicating to me, that Jews from the Austro-Hungarian Empire could have chosen to emigate through the Balkans to Palestine, when they saw the way the tide was turning after World War One.
I know a bit about life in Palestine in the 1930s, because at one period of my life, my next-door neighbour was a retired British Officer, who was stationed in the country. He was actually in the King David Hotel, when it was blown up. Charles is long-dead now, but I wished I’d recorded his memories, as in today’s Middle East climate, they would be an unusual insight.
But why Iceland, Malta and Uruguay?
Ireland And The United Kingdom
As could be expected, Ireland and the United Kingdom are fairly close together in the table; at 40 and 44 respectively.
- Just men and the positions are 49 and 51.
- Just women and it’s 37 and 42.
In the tables, Canada and Australia are just below the United Kingdom, with New Zealand a few places further down.
Cambodia, Laos And Vietnam
To a coeliac like me, Cambodia is interesting, as they are reckoned to have the most gluten-free cuisine in the world.
But these three countries, are all in the bottom third of the table, along with some other major countries, whose food has a lot of rice; Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand.
I know gluten affects my health, but if your diet contains little gluten, does that lower, your chance of getting pancreatic cancer?
1-in-11,000 Chance Of Contracting COVID-19 On Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Magazine.
That looks like a chance I’ll take!
Coeliac Disease And Sex Of The Sufferer
This page on the NHS web site is an overview of coeliac disease.
Under Who’s Affected, this is said.
Coeliac disease is a condition that affects at least 1 in every 100 people in the UK.
But some experts think this may be underestimated because milder cases may go undiagnosed or be misdiagnosed as other digestive conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Reported cases of coeliac disease are around 3 times higher in women than men.
It can develop at any age, although symptoms are most likely to develop:
during early childhood – between 8 and 12 months old, although it may take several years before a correct diagnosis is made
in later adulthood – between 40 and 60 years of age
People with certain conditions, including type 1 diabetes, autoimmune thyroid disease, Down’s syndrome and Turner syndrome, have an increased risk of getting coeliac disease.First-degree relatives (parents, brothers, sisters and children) of people with coeliac disease are also at increased risk of developing the condition.
The page is fairly definite, that women are three times more likely to be coeliac than men!
The Anonymous Widower 