How To Stop Smoking
This story from California, is an interesting way to stop smoking. Here’s the first paragraph.
Think you’ve heard of every way possible to quit smoking? Etta Mae Lopez came up with a new one: slap a cop and go to jail, where smoking isn’t allowed.
Perhaps, we should take a leaf out of California’s book and ban smoking in prison.
Are There Indirect Consequences Of Bereavement Or Divorce?
Yesterday, I met someone, who has divorced after a fairly long marriage. I’m not sure how long ago it was, but they did move house in the last year.
I first noticed their nails and they appeared to be short and brittle just like mine below. They also had similar bumps to those I have on my index finger.
My Left Hand
On questioning, they revealed that they lived in a south-facing flat, although it doesn’t have under-floor central heating, like my house.
So are they living in a hot, dry atmosphere, like I have for a lot of the time, since I moved into this house? There is only one way to find out and that is buy one of these.
Maplin Hygro-Thermometer
I got mine from Maplin. Click here for details.
Since the begining of January, I’ve kept the temperature most of the time in the range of 19-21 °C, with the humidity as high as possible. Admittedly, it’s a bit hotter this morning, but then the sun is on and both the heating and air-conditioning are off.
The consequences for my gut have been dramatic. Ever since my stroke in 2010, my gut has been lively, which an expert neurologist said was strange, as if stroke sufferers have a problem it’s usually constipation. For a long time, I thought I’d been glutened in hospital.
Now I was married for forty years and my lunch companion had probably been married for a long time, although they had got divorced. So the nails and the hands got me thinking.
Could it be, that when you are living with someone, you get into habits and a pattern of living? C and myself, were a couple, who did things together, but she was very definite in what she wanted. She always slept on the same side of the bed, kept the temperature of her car at a precise 22.5 °C and always liked to eat at particular times. She also was the first to complain, if the inside of a house or hotel room was too hot, and I would be told to do something about it.
I was happy to live at her temperature, but she always complained that my office or car was too hot.
After she died, I decided to warm the house up. I changed radiators and also switched from blankets to duvets in a quest for more warmth.
Unfortunately, I didn’t do any before and after measurements, but it was about this time that my rhinitis or as I thought at the time, hay fever, started.
This rhinitis got very much worse after the stroke in Hong Kong. My hospital room, had a big picture window and the sun streamed through. Could it have been very hot and dry?
When I moved to this house, it was very hot and I started to feel unwell and even thought the house was trying to kill me.
I have now got air-conditioning and control the temperature and humidity as tight as I can. But all of this does illustrate the chain of events from C’s tragic death, that ruined my health.
There may also be other factors, that come in on either bereavement or divorce, or even just moving house.
I hate gas cookers with a passion, as I don’t like naked flames anywhere, but others won’t cook on anything else. C and I, were both very happy with an AGA.
I don’t like draughts either and generally keep the windows shut and go for a walk if I want fresh air. After a bereavement or divorce, you may have a tedency to shut yourself away, so perhaps acquiring a dog that needs to be walked is maybe a good idea. I haven’t gone for the dog, but I do walk quite a bit.
How many women after a divorce, go from a comfortable air-conditioned car to an affordable hatchback, as the settlement is not in their favour?
There are obviously other factors, and if anybody has any ideas, I’d be pleased to hear them.
But I always remember a story of a couple, who moved a mile or so from their new sealed house, with fitted carpets in the town centre, to a country cottage with stone floors and ill-fitting windows. Their son’s asthma disappeared after the move.
So are there any scientific papers on the effects of temperature and humidity on health.
I found this paper from Harvard, entitled Hospital admissions for heart disease: the effects of temperature and humidity. Read the summary. It seems to indicate, that in their specific study, temperature was important, but humidity wasn’t.
My only advice would be to get yourself, one of Maplin’s meters, so that you know your preferred temperature and humidity.
I Tend To Avoid Sun, Swimming, Salt, Cold And Water
I was wondering today, if my lifestyle choices have been my problem all along.
As a child I spent endless hours in my bedroom playing with my Meccano, and in most of my working life I was programming alone in my office, often watching the television at the same time. Even today, living alone in East London, I spend a lot of time on my computer, with either the television or the radio in the background.
The difference now, is that I try to get some sun and even today, I’ve had an hour or so in the sun walking around the local area.
But I don’t eat much salt and I’ve never liked it. So could I be that rare person, who doesn’t get enough salt?
Paradoxically, although I’m not a sun lover, I do hate the cold and C used to complain that my office and car was too hot. This winter though, I’ve felt a bit better by deliberately keeping the temperature down to 20 °C or less inside most of the time. My gut, which is usually troublesome, has been perfect all the time.
I am trying to drink more water, but only in the form of tea, lemonade, milk or beer. But all I seem to want to do is pee it down the toilet!
So can I get decent health, by controlling my avoidances?
One conclusion, I’m coming to, is that when I was living with C, she used to drag me out for walks and probably curbed some of my excess.
So does that explain, why my health was better for all those years I was married?
Is Lack Of Sun One Of My Problems?
I don’t know, but I’ve read this article about research at Edinburgh University with a great deal of interest.
I am very pale skinned and used to burn easily in the sun, so I kept out of it for long periods of my life. Since being diagnosed as a coeliac, and going gluten-free, strangely, I’ve tended to burn less easily.
I had a very bad winter in 2010-2011 and again this one in 2012-2013. This year our lack of sun in London has been very marked. I’ve just looked atb the pictures, I took on this blog in 2011-2012 and there seems a lot more sun than this past winter. I know, it’s not very scientific.
In the last few years of her life, C and I always went away for a few weeks in January and I felt better. She would also drag me out for a walk on any day that the sun might come out.
Soon, after she died, my GP at the time, thought I might be suffering from SAD, so one of the actions I took, was to wear a thick coat and drive my Lotus with the top down. The extra sun seemed to help!
Let’s hope the sun kicks me back to life!
Do Smokers Want To Give Up?
At Dalston Junction station, I was approached by a man, who asked if I had a lighter.
I said I was sorry, but I didn’t smoke.
He then said thanks and said that I was probably a lot healthier than him.
Little did he know!
i hope the conversation pushes him to give up!
David Aaronovitch Blames Journalists Over MMR
In a hard hitting opinion in The Times today, he effectively blames journalists for stoking up the MMR fiasco. Here’s the final paragraph.
The MMR scare was the fault of journalists of all stripes. With honourable exceptions, notably Brian Deer, hacks combined to mislead the public, and now those same journalists want to deny responsibility for it. They shouldn’t be allowed to. Forget phone hacking and paparazzi, MMR is the Hillsborough of my profession.
We need quality journalism in the UK, not scare and celebrity stories that sell papers to the gullible.
The Cost Of A UKIP Government
According to the Times today, there is a big black hole in UKIP’s plans based on their 2010 manifesto. They postulate a figure of £120 billion, which probably has a margin of error.
It shows that those out of power can promise the earth, even if they won’t ever be able to deliver.
But I hadn’t realised until now, that Farage and UKIP want to bring back smoking in pubs. I think now, that would probably be a big vote loser, as we’ve all got used to cleaner air in bars and restaurants.
Nuts May Contain Nuts
A supermarket is in trouble for not saying a packet of monkey nuts contains nuts. It’s here in the Guardian.
Holy Crap
This product got a plug on Have I Got News For You, tonight.
I thought it was a spoof, but if it is, the web site is a masterpiece of misleading information.
It is actually a gluten-free breakfast cereal. The product page is here and I only have one problem with it and that is that it contains cranberries, which are a no-no if you are on Warfarin.
My other problem might be putting on a lumberjack shirt and high heels to eat it.
An Odd Thing With The MMR Vaccine
If I type “MMR Hackney” into Google, I get a lot of sensible advice. Not that I need it, as I’ve had measles.
But if I type “MMR Suffolk” into Google, I get people trying to sell me the single vaccines. But then there has been snake oil salesmen, since before Biblical times!
I think this is disgraceful, as all the sensible advice I’ve had from doctors, nurses and pharmacists say that the MMR is best. And at least a few of those have no axe to grind!
My view is that after having measles and chickenpox together at twenty eight, you should get yourself and any children in your care, the best protection you can. At least, I was only left with two weeks of painful memories.
The Anonymous Widower 