Tags
Daily Express, Daily Express talking nonsense, epidemiology, life expectancy, lifestyle, poor science, smoking for cats, statistics
I’m a bit lazy today, not least because I cranked out about 7500 words yesterday on various projects I’m working on, so this isn’t a new piece. It’s one I found in the B Warehouse. If you don’t understand what the B Warehouse is, read to the end and you’ll find out.
Once again I am indebted to the work of the august journal the Daily Express for some invaluable advice.
‘Scientists’ have ‘recently’ discovered five simple lifestyle changes that will control hypertension with no recourse to drug intervention. Allegedly these changes can add several years to your life. Now I’m a pensioner I’m troubled by feelings of mortality, so I read the article with great interest.
Here’s what you need to do. Don’t smoke. Don’t drink. Cut down on your salt intake. Exercise regularly. Eat lots of vegetables and fruit. Wow! Groundbreaking stuff! Whoever would have thought it? I mean to say, I started working in the pharmaceutical industry in the mid 70s, and all these factors in hypertension were known then. Nearly 40 years on ‘scientists’ have ‘recently’ discovered them all over again. Blimey. It must be true.
There’s a catch though. As ever the Excess confuses epidemiology with the health of you as a specific individual. There is absolutely no guarantee that however healthy you make your lifestyle you will live longer. A population following this ‘new’ advice will certainly have a higher average life expectancy, but it may not work for you as a person. Harsh but sadly true. It may be that time’s winged chariot flies a bit faster for you no matter what you do. It might be worth a shot of course, and good luck to you if you give it a whirl, but you may actually be on a hiding to nothing.
It’s not all bad news though. According to another article in the same paper, eating oily fish twice a week is good for you. That came as no end of a surprise to me, I can tell you. Never heard that before. But the jugheads at the Excess go further and actually quantify things. Eat oily fish and your life expectancy goes up by two whole years! Caramba! Fat City!
Except it doesn’t, of course. It’s epidemiology vs individual again. So it may be good for you, and I have no issue with that, except you can die of boredom instead of heart disease or cancer or pestilence. But you as an individual cannot expect to live two years longer than you would have. Sorry about that.
Nearly forgot. B Warehouse. This is slang for the back pocket where you keep your emergency tenner for when you run out of cash in the pub. In this case, I’ve used it to describe the mountain of unposted blogs I have in a file called Pending. But B Warehouse is a bit more fun, isn’t it?
Funny, it is frome the B Wharehouse that the best ideas ferment and emerge as fine wines sometimes–though at others they look like they just came out of your back pocket–speaking from experience. This, of course is not one of the later. You always seem to lighten my early morning–glad you’re so far ahead in time—I wonder what effect time zones have on extending life expectancy? >KB
If I lighten somebody’s day, be it yours or someone else’s, it all falls into place
It’s all good. You should read swome of my poetry sometime, perhaps I can return the favor. I wouldn’t suggest if I thought it would bore you believe me. Best>KB
Exercise, eating a balanced diet, fish… Color me stunned. (Makes me think of the old joke: “If I’d known I would live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.”)
That’s a corker of a joke. Groucho Marx?
I am going to have a B wearhouse–thanks
Love your B Warehouse! 🙂
You and those interesting surveys, studies and recent discoveries…. Isn’t it amazing what scientists “find out”?? Who KNEW?? Wow! So eating healthy and exercise really do help? Hmmm….have to rethink my apple a day theory! LOL! Rock on Duncan! 🙂
It’s not spurious research that annoys me but spurious reporting does. I loathe the Express and the Daily Mail for sloppy reporting. They clearly haven’t got a clue about science, and that annoys me
And yet you continue to read that drivel….ha ha ha ha ha! I think you do it just to find something to bitch about??
Yep. That’s what I do. And I try to unsettle stupid people, bigots, non-thinkers. They deserve to be unsettled
Yep….I agree wi’ dat! They absolutely deserve to be unsettled!!! 😉
And I do it so well.
😀
I really do rack people off