One in three lazybones Britons risks heart trouble through inactivity

Harriet Mulvaney was climbing the stairs to brush her teeth before bed when she suffered a severe pain in the chest, down her left arm and in her upper jaw.

It was a heart attack, specifically, a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a rare and dangerous condition which mainly affects young women.

An ambulance rushed Harriet to hospital and emergency treatment saved her life. When she asked what caused the seizure, she was surprised to hear the response, “Inactivity”.

A new report by the British Heart Foundation said more than 20 million people in the United Kingdom are physically inactive and face increased risk of heart trouble. That is something like one person in three.

Harriet, 44, said: “I thought I was active but I think I was just busy.” She was a human resources consultant, drove to work and sat at a desk for eight to 10 hours a day. She would then be busy with family life, but she did not make time for activity or exercise.

SITTING DOWN

The report found that the average British man spends a fifth of his lifetime sitting down, that is, 78 days a year. For women, it is around 74 days.

Harriet’s heart attack prompted an immediate lifestyle change, including a marathon challenge that involves running or walking the equivalent of a marathon across one month.

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said, “Keeping physically active can reduce the risk of heart disease by as much as 35 per cent and the risk of early death by as much as 30 per cent.”

And Britons are not the only lazybones. Figures show that more than five million deaths worldwide can be attributed to physical inactivity, making it one of the top 10 causes of death.

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“As I left the barber’s shop, a man came running towards me with a knife, then four more appeared behind me. I just said ‘Take everything,’ and I gave them my money and my watch.”

This is a former England footballer, Jermaine Jenas, describing how he became a victim of knife crime, a scourge in many British cities today.

KNIFE CRIME

Jenas was 19 at the time and the robbery took place in his home town of Nottingham. But the possession and use of knives by gangs or individuals is widespread. In London in June 2012 there were 1,719 stabbings of people aged under 25; in August 2016, the figure was 1,749.

Across the country as a whole, knife crime has increased by 9 per cent in the past two years. Boys as young as eight have been found with knives, and when police stopped a gang of youths, one was in possession of a meat cleaver.

Jenas has founded the Aquinas Foundation which offers tickets to football matches for children who achieve 100 per cent attendance at school, and encourages youths to take part in sports and extra-curricular activities.

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Having expended quite a few words in recent columns knocking various aspects of science and technology, it is a pleasure to hail what could be a major breakthrough of benefit to us all.

A UK-based team of researchers has created a graphene-based sieve capable of removing salt from seawater. Such a development could help millions of people who cannot easily access clean drinking water.

With man-made climate change reducing cities’ water supplies, countries have been increasingly investing in desalination technologies.

EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES

The United Nations has predicted that around 1.2 billion people or 14 per cent of the world’s population will experience difficulties sourcing clean water by 2025.

Professor Rahul Nair, who led the team at Manchester University, said, “This is a significant step forward” that will open “new possibilities for improving the efficiency of desalination.”

(PS: In case you were wondering, graphene is “an allotrope of carbon in the form of a two-dimensional, atomic-scale, hexagonal lattice, in which one atom forms each vertex.” Easy!)

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A woman tells a friend she is to be married for the fourth time, her three previous husbands all having died suddenly. The friend asks what happened to them.

The bride-to-be replies, “The first one died from eating poisonous mushroom.”

“Oh dear, how awful,” said the friend, “And the second?”

“He died from eating poisonous mushrooms, too.”

“Good gracious,” said the friend. “I’m almost afraid to ask what happened to your last husband.”

“He died of a broken neck. He wouldn’t eat the poisonous mushrooms.”

* * *
Wife: How would you describe me?

Husband: ABCDEFGHIJK

Wife: What’s that?

Husband: Adorable, beautiful, cute, desirable, elegant, fashionable, gorgeous and hot.

Wife: But you didn’t finish. What about IJK?

Husband: I’m Just Kidding.

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