If you are
going to faint, then I can confirm that the best time and place to do so is
probably in the House of Lords, surrounded by healthcare professionals.
It was hot,
I had been standing for the best part of two hours – and foolishly I hadn’t
eaten breakfast. Despite my protests that I’d be fine after a drink of water
and some fresh air, an ambulance was called.
Richard,
the first responder who arrived on a motorbike, and his colleagues in the
ambulance, were lovely and very thorough. They even gave me an ECG.
I felt
guilty at taking up their time – I’m sure there were more urgent cases in the
capital needing their help. But top marks to the London Ambulance Service for
their prompt, professional response to a call that could have been more serious
than it was.
Two days
later I was having a different kind of check-up – this time to see what my cholesterol levels are.
In January
the people of Rutland were given a challenge to lower their cholesterol in just
three weeks through a combination of exercise, a healthier diet and Flora
pro-activ products.
The
results? Of those who stuck at it for three weeks, 82 per cent succeeded.
Flora
pro-activ would like to encourage the nation to take up the challenge and I’ve
agreed to give it a try. You can find out more about the challenge here.
According
to the cholesterol charity Heart UK, six out of every 10 adults in
Britain have raised cholesterol. They say: ‘ For most
people a healthy total cholesterol level is below 5 mmol/L (which is short for
millimoles per litre of blood)’
Mine came in just under this at 4.81. I’ll keep
you posted.
