My Mother And Her Brother Shared a Birthday
My mother was born on the 22nd December 1911 and her eldest brother; Leslie had been born on the same day about eight years earlier.
These two pictures were drawn by Leslie of my mother as a child and his wife Gladys in later life.
Cousins Reunited
Gladys was a first cousin to my mother and her brother.
My mother and her brother were close and always phoned each other on their birthday and had a long chat.
Last Sunday, which would have been their birthday., I was thinking about my mother and her brother and wondered, if any other siblings shared a birthday. Other than twins of course.
It’s explained in the Wikipedia entry for the Birthday Problem, where this is the first paragraph.
In probability theory, the birthday problem asks for the probability that, in a set of n randomly chosen people, at least two will share the same birthday. The birthday paradox refers to the counterintuitive fact that only 23 people are needed for that probability to exceed 50%.
It would appear that to be certain in siblings to have a fifty percent chance of having two birthdays the same, you would need twenty-three siblings. My mother and her bother were only one of nine, so they got good odds.
How I Was Imprisoned In A Pizza Restaurant And Driven Home By The Metropolitan Police
At lunchtime today, I received a phone call, saying that my GP’s surgery could see me at 16:30 this afternoon, to discuss my lack of sleep, arthritis and various strains and pains.
My middle son; Henry had expressed a desire to be at such an appointment, so I said, that if he could chauffeur me to the GP, he could come along.
His diary co-operated and he duly arrived outside my house at 16:00.By the time of the GP’s appointment, we had parked conveniently outside the surgery and we had been ushered into the GP’s consulting room.
We had a good meeting and by just after five, we had broken up and agreed a comprehensive plan for the diagnosis of my problems.
Henry had three problems of his own.
- He had legal work to do for the morning.
- He needed to do some bits of shopping.
- He also said, that he was feeling rather hungry.
- I too was hungry and needed to do some shopping.
So I suggested we drive to Southgate Road and see if we could get a pizza in Sweet Thursday.
- They do gluten-free pizzas, so I would have no dietary worries.
- In previous meals, I have found the quality excellent.
- There are shops nearby, where we could shop, if we needed.
As I approached the restaurant, I decided we had made the right decision, as there was a parking space about twenty metres from the restaurant.
We both had similar meals.
- Ham and mushroom pizzas, although mine was gluten-free.
- I drunk a zero-alcohol Lucky Saint, whilst Henry had a Diet-Coke.
- We both finished off, with two scoops of appropriate ice cream.
It was only, when we had paid and tried to leave that we got a very big surprise.
Parked in front of the restaurant with its disabled ramp extended, like some beached airliner was a 141 bus, that was empty of passengers.
- There was broken glass at the front of the bus.
- Was this evidence, that the bus had hit something or somebody?
- The police had strung white tape everywhere.
- There were half-a-dozen police cars and ambulances blocking Southgate Road.
Henry’s car wouldn’t be going anywhere for some time, as it was blocked in by two ambulances and a police car with flashing blue lights.
- So, Henry and I each had a coffee, to pass the time.
- We also made friends with others trapped in the restaurant.
- Henry also obtained information from the police, that no-one would be moving, until it was known that no-one would be moving until the full state of the injuries of the person hit by the bus was known.
So Henry and I just sat there with several others on the hard chairs in front of the restaurant.
In the end, for me, it was over very quickly.
- I live about a kilometre North of the incident.
- Some were walking from the incident to the Balls Pond Road to get a bus.
- I am fairly sure, Henry had told the police, that it was far too far for me to walk with my arthritic hip.
I was put in the back of a police car and ferried home, at about 21:45.
Thanks to the Metropolitan Police.
I have some further thoughts.
Do I Drink Enough?
Since lunchtime, I have drunk the following.
- 4 x 330 ml – Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5 % Beer
- 1 x 330 ml – Lucky Saint 0.5 % Beer
- 300 ml – Assorted water and juices.
- 1 cup – coffee.
Is that enough?
I certainly slept better last night!
Binge Drinking And Obesity Behind Bowel Cancer Surge In Under-50s
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Deaths this year are set to be a third higher than in 2018 with biggest increase among young women
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
Obesity and binge drinking are causing a surge in bowel cancer among young British adults, research shows.
Deaths in those aged under 50 are set to be about a third higher this year than in 2018, with the highest increase in young women.
Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK, after breast and prostate cancers, and there are 43,000 new cases and 16,000 deaths a year. More than nine in ten cases are in those over 50, but the disease is increasingly being diagnosed in those under 50, in whom it is more likely to be aggressive and deadly.
I am coeliac and whenever, I see some illness that is more common in females, I wonder, if this is down to the fact, that female coeliacs are more common than males. This page on the NHS web site flags it up with this sentence.
Reported cases of coeliac disease are higher in women than men.
This could be because coeliac disease can cause complications in pregnancy, so more women get tested.
The NHS web site also links coeliacs with bowel cancer, but it does say this.
Once you’ve been following a gluten-free diet for some time, your risk of developing these types of cancer is the same as that of the general population.
My son was an undiagnosed coeliac, who worked in the music business. He lived on a diet of ciggies, cannabis and Subways and contracted pancreatic cancer, which killed him at just 37.
He should have got himself tested, as the NHS says, that if you have a first degree relative (Me!), who has coeliac disease, then you should get tested.
So if you think, you have a problem with gluten, get yourself tested!
If not for yourself for your family!
I am surprised that the Italian lead researcher doesn’t mention coeliac disease as Italy has lots of it! All that pasta and pizza!
Biarritz And My Family
I am coeliac and I am fairly sure, my father was too, as he had all the wind, I had at fifty, which was something that led to my being diagnosed as coeliac.
But as my father was born in 1904, there was not really any tests for the disease.
I was one of many, who were diagnosed at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in the 1990s, where I am certain, they were testing out, the genetic test for the disease.
How else could I go in on a Monday and have a very short chat and give some blood for testing and then get a letter on the Wednesday saying I was probably coeliac and it would be confirmed by endoscopy.
I never met my paternal grandfather, as he died in 1929 at around fifty.
My father told me a lot about his father. He had been very affected by his father’s heavy drinking and alcoholism. I suspect, it was part of his plan to make sure, that I didn’t go the way of his father.
In fact now at 76, I am virtually teetotal, although I do drink a lot of bottles of 0.5 % alcohol real ale. But this doesn’t affect my gut or my INR.
I know little about my grandfather’s health, but he did suffer from asthma and that was what killed him.
Was he coeliac? From my father’s descriptions of his father, it was highly likely.
My grandfather had a profitable printing business, which even in the 1920s had around a hundred employees according to what my father told me.
My father also remembered going to see Spurs at White Hart Lane in a pony and trap. That at least showed a certain status.
My paternal grandparents also used to go to Biarritz for at least part of the winter.
My father did say a couple of times, that it did improve my grandfather’s health.
But when I went to Biarritz ten years ago, it certainly made me feel better.
I wrote Would I Go Back To Biarritz Again?.
Coeliac Journey Through Covid-19 – The Pain Of Coeliac Disease
The Pain Of Coeliac Disease
Celiac disease has caused a lot of pain in my life.
My Unhealthy Childhood
I was a very unhealthy and sickly child and all that was done was to remove my tonsils.
I also don’t think that London’s filthy air of the 1950s helped.
Certainly, my parents’ retirement to Felixstowe in Suffolk and then studying at Liverpool University in the 1960s, seemed to improve my health.
But if I’d been diagnosed as coeliac, would I have been so unhealthy.
Bullying At School
I was very small at school, due to my inadequate non-coeliac diet and at both Primary and Grammar School, I was bullied.
The bullying only ended after, my left humerus was broken in an incident, when I was fourteen.
Would I have been so small, if it had been known to be coeliac and was eating accordingly?
The Early Death Of My Paternal Grandfather
Whether he was a coeliac, I not know, as he died in 1929 and I never met him! But he died at 51 of pneumonia and acute asthma. My father told me he was a very heavy drinker.
The Early Death Of My Father
My father died at 69 of a stroke and I am certain he was coeliac, as he was so like me at fifty.
My father after the problems his father had with drink, made certain, that my drinking habits were similar to his, which were a few units a week. Although we shared a habit of drinking lots of tea.
My Granddaughter Was Born With A Congenital Hernia Of The Diaphragm
My granddaughter; Imogen, who is not coeliac, was born with a congenital hernia of the diaphragm.
Imogen was operated on within a couple of days at the Royal London Hospital and recently celebrated her twenty-first birthday. She hopes to go to University in the Autumn.
By chance, in my volunteering at the William Harvey Centre, I met one of the nurses, who had looked after Imogen twenty years ago. She told me, that they had given her no chance of survival. Miracles do happen!
The Early Death Of My Son
Imogen’s father was my son George, who like our other two sons refused to get tested for coeliac disease, after I was diagnosed in 1997.
This is recommended by the NHS and this page on their web site says this.
First-degree relatives of people with coeliac disease should be tested.
George died of pancreatic cancer in 2010. I wrote about George’s death in The Death Of My Son George.
Would he still be alive, if he had been diagnosed as the coeliac, I believe he was and had followed a more healthy lifestyle?
My Stroke
Like my father I had a serious stroke.
Mine was in 2011, whilst I was on holiday in Hong Kong.
Doctors, say I made a remarkable recovery.
Could this be because I am coeliac and Addenbrooke’s prescribed three-monthly B12 injections, which I still have?
In the United States B12 injections are used for stroke recovery. But not in the UK!
My Cataracts
Ceoliacs can suffer from cataracts. I had mine removed in 2022.
My Gallstones
Ceoliacs can suffer from gallstones. I had mine removed in 2022.
No Female Born Into My Father’s Male Line Has Ever Successfully Had A Child Since 1800
Even my sister, who was born in 1950, never had a child.
Other Coeliacs
I used to monitor an on-line forum for coeliacs and I’ve heard so many strange tales and pain caused by coeliac disease.
Conclusion
My life would have been so different, if I had been tested for coeliac disease as a child.
Why A Lucky Few May Help The Rest Of Us Beat Disease
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-title.
A British biotech firm believes patients who defy odds could hold the key in their blood.
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
Patient 82 should be dead. At the age of 63 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In most cases, he would not have lasted a year. But seven years on, patient 82 is alive. Not merely alive — thriving.
He enjoys gardening. He likes seeing his grandchildren. He enjoys life.
How? The answer, a British biotech company believes, could lie in his blood. Now, with the help of dozens of other anonymous patients, all of whom have defied their cancer prognoses, they hope to find it.
Note, that the company is Alchemab Therapeutics.
The article got me thinking about myself.
I belong to a group of people, who are twenty-five percent less likely to suffer from cancer according to peer-reviewed research at Nottingham University.
I am coeliac and adhere to a strict gluten-free diet.
There may be other benefits too!
I have not had a serious dose of the covids, although I may have had a very mild case at the beginning of 2020 after I shared a train with a large number of exuberant Chinese students, who had recently arrived at Manchester Airport and were going to their new University across the Pennines.
I have also since found at least another seventy coeliacs, who have avoided serious doses of the covids.
Research From The University Of Padua
This paper on the US National Library of Medicine, which is from the University of Padua in Italy.
The University followed a group of 138 patients with coeliac disease, who had been on a gluten-free diet for at least six years, through the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Padua.
This sentence, sums up the study.
In this analysis we report a real life “snapshot” of a cohort of CeD patients during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Italy, all followed in one tertiary centre in a red area of Northern Italy. Our data show, in accordance with Emmi et al., the absolute absence of COVID-19 diagnosis in our population, although 18 subjects experienced flu-like symptoms with only one having undergone naso-pharyngeal swab.
It says that no test subject caught Covid-19, in an admittedly smallish number of patients.
But it reinforces my call for more research into whether if you are a diagnosed coeliac on a long-term gluten-free diet, you have an immune system, that gives you a degree of protection from the Covids.
The Times article mentions the immune system.
I believe my immune system to be strong after the reaction I had to the Astra Zeneca vaccine. I didn’t feel well to say the least after my Astra Zeneca vaccine and my GP and other doctors felt that it could be due to my immune system, thinking that the chimpanzee virus-based vaccine was a danger and attacking it.
Significantly, I had no reaction to the second dose. So had my immune system recognised the vaccine as a friend not a foe?
My son, who my late wife was sure was an undiagnosed coeliac, died of pancreatic cancer at just 37.
How did my late wife know? Don’t question her intuition and also she felt that my son and myself felt the same to her touch.
It should be noted that my son’s daughter was born with a Congenital hernia of the Diaphragm. Congenital defects can happen to people, who have a coeliac father.
At the age of 20, my granddaughter is fine now, after heroic surgery at the Royal London Hospital, at just a few days old.
Would Southeastern’s Proposed Battery-Electric Trains Be More Reliable In The Snow?
This article on CityMonitor, which is entitled No Trains South Of London During Cold Weather? Blame A Pair of Herberts For Choosing The Wrong Electrical System, explains it all.
The article was written in 2018 and these are the first two paragraphs.
As is often the case when the weather is below freezing, commuters around London are having a terrible time this week. The blizzard has hit services on all lines around the capital. Trains running towards the south and southeast have had the worst of it, with services cancelled on Monday before the full impact of the storm really hit.
It’s frustrating to compare the UK’s lack of readiness when extreme weather hits with services in Switzerland or Sweden, which cheerfully run in heavy snow conditions.
The article blames the poor performance on South London’s third rail electrification, which as the title suggests was chosen by a couple of Herberts.
Does anybody know of a child in the last fifty years, who has been called Herbert?
I shouldn’t be too hard on Herberts, as my paternal grandfather was a Herbert. But he was an alcoholic and died before he was forty.
Why Don’t I Feel The Cold?
It’s been cold today in London, but I didn’t really feel it.
Bananas And Me
According to my mother, I didn’t see or taste a banana until I was seven.
That would have been 1954, which is when rationing ended.
The Wikipedia entry entitled Rationing In The UK is a valuable resource.
Bananas had been available since 1945, although they had not been imported during the war.
I had been born in 1947, with my sister born in 1950. As my paternal grandmother lived with us, we were a family of five.
So I suspect, that although they were available my mother didn’t buy them for some reason.
The Wikipedia entry has a section called Political Reaction, which talked about reaction to rationing after the war. This is said.
In the late 1940s, the Conservative Party utilised and encouraged growing public anger at rationing, scarcity, controls, austerity and government bureaucracy to rally middle-class supporters and build a political comeback that won the 1951 general election. Their appeal was especially effective to housewives, who faced more difficult shopping conditions after the war than during it.
My father had been politically active before World War II, but he was much more politically agnostic after the war, judging by some things he said to me. I can’t ever remember my mother saying anything political, although I can remember her saying something, which agreed with the last sentence of the Wikipedia extract.
I suspect she was under pressure from my grandmother, so perhaps she kept the shopping light because of rationing.
Anyway, I can remember her telling my wife that my face had been a picture when I saw and ate my first banana.
I’ve not stopped eating them since.
- I generally eat between one and three every day.
- I have problems with fruit that needs to be cut up because of my gammy left hand, so for pineapple, melon and mango, I usually buy them ready-cut in pots from Marks and Spencer.
- I also eat a lot of berries, when they are in season.
But, I never eat oranges, apples or pears, except in a processed form.
Bananas And My Family
As far, as I can check, I’m the only one of my family, who likes bananas and eats them regularly.
I have checked on two sons and my granddaughter and none seem to like them.
Could it be my mother’s denial of the fruit to me until rationing ended, gave me a love of the fruit?
Bananas And Coeliacs
This page on the Harvard University School of Public Health gives the nutrition facts about bananas.
This is the second paragraph.
The scientific name for banana is Musa, from the Musaceae family of flowering tropical plants, which distinctively showcases the banana fruit clustered at the top of the plant. The mild-tasting and disease-resistant Cavendish type is the main variety sold in the U.S. and Europe. Despite some negative attention, bananas are nutritious and may even carry the title of the first “superfood,” endorsed by the American Medical Association in the early 20th century as a health food for children and a treatment for celiac disease.
Now there’s a thing.
This page on the Gluten-Free Watchdog is entitled Early Dietary Treatment for Celiac Disease: The Banana Diet.
I’d never heard of this diet until yesterday.
Interestingly, a large banana contains 50 mg of vitamin B6 according to Dr. Google.
I take a B6 supplement and I wrote about the advice I received from a doctor at a respected medical university in Amsterdam in Vitamin B Complex for Coeliacs.
I
How To Recycle A Hospital
The old Royal London Hospital is starting to emerge from its plastic chrysalis, as the new Whitechapel Civic Centre.
It is now eighteen years, since my granddaughter was born in the hospital with a congenital hernia of the diaphragm.
- There were twenty-three people in the delivery room.
- She was operated on within forty-eight hours by the incomparable Vanessa Wright.
- She left hospital many weeks later.
- Last year, she had her eighteenth birthday and entered the world of work.
A few years ago, I met one of the nurses, who’d looked after her in the hospital. On hearing of her successful life, she was exceedingly surprised. But also exceedingly happy!
But then success in life, is often down to those you meet! And my granddaughter happened to meet one of the best!
The Anonymous Widower 