Free MOT

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.