Uncategorized

Road Traffic Accidents Kill More People in the World than Malaria!

studenthealth travel, Uncategorized , , ,

Got your attention?! It definitely got mine reading this- perhaps unbelievable? But true. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), road traffic accidents (RTAs) kill more people around the world than malaria, and are the leading cause of death for young people aged 5 to 29 – especially in developing countries. Each year WHO estimates that worldwide 1.3 million people are killed on roads and up to 50 million people are injured in RTAs, globally.

Many of the students I see each year in our Travel Clinics travel to SE Asia, Thailand being a very popular destination and usual first port of call for most. Thailand has been classed as one of the deadliest holiday destinations for Britons. This is a direct result of fatal motorbike accidents.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) statistics show that between 1st April 2012 and 31st March 2013, there were 870,164 visitors to Thailand. During this time there were 389 deaths and 285 hospitalisations, this number has increased by 31% (a third) and was linked to RTAs.

Thailand is the 4th country in the world in which Britons are most likely to require consular assistance (behind Spain, USA and France).

I know when I was backpacking in my early 20’s around Thailand, I was not made aware of these dangers in my pre travel clinic appointment, and I was totally ignorant/unaware of these risks. So there I was happily zipping around on a scooter- in my shorts, flip-flops and vest, no helmet on- I can’t actually remember if I had any insurance to ride one! I had a few near misses, but fortunately I was lucky- nothing serious.

Like me, often tourists to hot destinations ride scooters with no helmet while wearing shorts, a vest top and flip-flops. Think aboutwhat might happen  if you fell off your scooter- the risk of major injury and need for hospitalisation is significant. Also many backpackers, being broke, forgo travel insurance as well.

In March 2013, the Foreign Office launched a road safety campaign for driving abroad. The focus is very much on Thailand:

‘After deaths from natural causes, road traffic deaths are the most common cause of death for British nationals in Thailand and cause a high number of hospitalisations. The majority of RTAs involve motorcycles and scooters, although serious accidents also occur with other vehicles. For instance, in the past year a number of British nationals were involved in accidents whilst travelling by overnight coach.’

Mark Kent, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand, said:

“British nationals using the roads in Thailand should bear in mind that road laws and driving customs here are different from those in the UK and road conditions, driving standards and road traffic regulations can vary.”

So if you are planning on motorcycling around Thailand, as many backpackers do, what safety measures can you exercise?

*Make sure you can ride one safely first! Many people have their first try on a scooter whilst abroad and may not be familiar with the controls and how to ride one.

*Make yourself aware of the laws and driving customs in the Country

*Wear a helmet: Thai law states that safety helmets must be worn- this is widely ignored in Thailand.

*Ensure you have comprehensive, adequate travel insurance- due to financial pressures you may skip on travel insurance in a bid to save money- this may have significant repercussions in the event of any accident/injury.

*Check the small print of the lease agreement and don’t hand over your passport as a guarantee against returning a motorcycle or scooter. Unscrupulous owners have been known to hold on to passports against claimed damage to the motorcycle or scooter.

*Bear in mind, many of the motorcycles and scooters that are available for hire in beach resorts are unregistered and cannot legally be driven on a public road. This could invalidate any travel insurance policy should you wish to make a claim.

Finally… Do not drink and drive

 

Sources:

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/212707/British_Behaviour_Abroad_report_2012-13.pdf.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-office-launches-road-safety-campaign-for-driving-abroad.

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/safety-and-security.

 

 

 

BBQ safety!

studenthealth General, Uncategorized, Wellbeing , ,

Plan ahead for barbecue weather!

The summer break has arrived for most students, and while the weather might not be as sunny and warm as we’d all hoped, there has been the odd day of great weather.

Barbecues are one of the most popular social activities over the summer but before you dust off your old barbecue and start heating up the coals, here is some essential fire and barbecue safety advice from fire safety specialists Firemart (www.firemart.co.uk).

Take care when deciding where to position your barbecue
Barbecues should only be used on flat surfaces, outdoors, and you should ensure they are not placed near any shrubs, trees or any furniture which could catch fire.

It’s also worth thinking about your use of the outdoor area – any games or activities taking place should be kept well away from the barbecue area, as well as away from any children or pets.

Safe Barbecue usage
If you’re in charge of cooking on the barbecue we advise that you avoid drinking alcohol until your cooking duties have finished.

For coal barbecues, only use approved barbecue lighter fluid, and make sure you use the minimum amount necessary. You should never use petrol or other fuels which were not meant for barbecues as these can ignite ferociously…and there could be the added side effect of your food tasting strange!
Choose barbecue utensils like tongs and forks which have long handles.

Food preparation

Aside from the fire safety elements, there are also some considerations when it comes to preparing your food for the barbecue. If you’re cooking meat from the freezer, ensure it is properly thawed before you cook it.

Remember that raw meat needs to be kept separately from cooked food – use different containers and utensils for each.

To avoid upset tummies the next day, ensure your meat is cooked on the barbecue throughout by turning it regularly.

After your Barbecue

Wait until your barbecue has cooled down completely before you attempt to move it or clean it, and never place hot barbecue coals into your bin. If your barbecue has a lid, you can speed up the cooling down process by placing the lid on – this removes the oxygen.

Some final tips
If the sun is out, don’t forget to wear sun screen, and if you’re feeling too hot then spend some time in the shade. Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day by drinking plenty of water.

 

If you keep the above guidance in mind, and plan in advance for the next day of good weather, your next barbecue should be a success!

A student’s account of depression

studenthealth Mental Health, Uncategorized , , ,

I’m sick of waking up every morning and just being unbelievably tired, I never get to not feel tired, especially now. And it’s so frustrating because when I’m not tired, or when I’m working well then I’m actually pretty good, but when I’m not I’m just awful, and I can’t work and it’s horrible. I literally have very briefly seen how good I can be, and that’s always in my head somewhere being chased around and held down by being suicidal and being always tired and self-hatred and guilt and regret. I don’t know how to get it out, or bring it to the forefront or anything. I think suicide is different now, it’s not actively wanting to die, it’s wanting to not exist, because existence is 90% tiredness and guilt and regret and hate, and trying and failing to cover all of that up. 
I tried to meditate this morning and for a couple of minutes actually felt alright, it was like I had picked up and wrenched my life around out of this horrible black river of depression, and slowly scraped all of what I wanted out of that river, and piled it up into an island, and that island is what I clung to before, and it was a horrible island, it was self-harm and video game addictions and drinking and promiscuity, but it wasn’t death, which I think is what the river is, or at least it wasn’t suicide, for as long as you were on the island. And eventually you’d get sucked back into the river; because the island would get washed away, and you’d have to gather it all back up again, with more of the same. And medication helps, I think that in this played out river- metaphor, the medication doesn’t teach you to swim, it just gives you something to hold onto to stay afloat whilst you teach yourself.
Anyway, in this meditative state I was in, I’d made a fire on that island, and that fire was everything that I’d ever hated about me, and me paying for having been who I’d been, and it was awesome. I don’t really know how to describe a somewhat spiritual thing, and I know this is tangential, but it’s like writing down one of your dreams, so excuse the self-indulgence for a second. I’d made this fire, and on the fire I’d put everything, I’d put all the stuff that I’d done to stay here, it was weird, it was like putting events on the fire but they were like pictures of the events, so I put pictures of me cutting myself, and me crying, and pictures of me isolating myself from my family, so many pictures of all of that, and they were all things I did to survive. And then this fire was growing, and it wasn’t really a fire, it was me, and it was the person that I wanted to be, and it was taking all the bad stuff that I’d done to get to where I am, and burning it, not in a sense of burning it away, just in a sense of it was what was fuelling the fire, it was still there on the fire. And my dissertation was on there, and all the times that I’ve beaten myself up when I’ve been an idiot in social situations were on there, and the fire was quite big now. 
Slowly out of the fire, and this is quite weird, all the people that I care about and want to protect came out of this fire, and they were standing round the fire, on this island in the middle of a river of black suicidal thoughts and death, and I was the fire, I was making myself better by having been through all the stuff that I’ve been through, and they were slightly warming themselves by the fire, like I’d made this fire so that they could be warm, and so that I could be warm too. But it was a really surreal feeling, because there were hundreds of people, and they were all sort of standing around this fire, with the people who I’m closest to standing nearest and then everyone else taking a slight back step, and they were shifting, and in the front row of this circle were my family and my friends from home and university people, although I’m not sure how much to read into that. But everyone was standing around this fire which I’d made, and I think in this dream/whatever, I was supposed to think that the benefits of me getting better and giving myself wholly to this fire, was that it didn’t just warm me, it could warm other people, and then once I thought that, everyone sort of lit up, not like a light bulb, but as in, if you imagine people standing in front of a fire they were lit in this flickering light, and it made no sense because obviously the people in the front would cast shadows but there were no shadows. 
And then everyone really gradually started smiling, not sympathetic smiles, just like a compilation of all the smiles that I’d ever made them smile, and it was only really small, like a little twitch in the corner of their lip, but it was there. And it made me want to carry on, and it made me think that I wanted to carry on with that fire, despite how awful it has been, and how awful it still is, because it’s not just warming me, it’s warming other people too, or at least preventing them from heading into the river. And that was the other thing too, it made me think that in my life if I could ever stop people from going into that river, then I should, and I will, that’s what I want to do with my life. And at the end of it all, I was crying, in real life, because I hate it like 99.99% of the time, I hate having to make a fire, and not just jumping into the river and giving it all up, but then sometimes it is worth it, having a fire, not just for your sakes, but for other people.
And I think in some sense, and this whole thing sounds massively martyr-y, and I hope you don’t judge me for that, it’s genuinely not like that, I think it’s something that I’d thought before, I’ve probably mentioned it before, that if you can’t find a reason to live for yourself then you should find it in others. I thought that first when I tried to kill myself, but couldn’t because I thought I heard mum coming home. That was when I was first like “if it weren’t for other people I would almost certainly be dead right now”. And that’s okay, I think.

But yeah, I’m actually semi-smiling right now, because I think in thinking of that fire thing a couple of hours ago, that’s what I’ll think about now, when I feel myself heading down that path, because, and this is huge, and that’s why I’m smiling, I felt myself coming down this breakdown path when I started writing this, but now, I’m actually okay, that is the first and only time that I’ve ever managed to avoid a breakdown, and it’s just because I typed out this fire thing. So even if you don’t read it, then it’s served a huge purpose for me, and really great. So thank you for reading this.

 

This account was written by a student who wanted others to know that they are not alone, and that they too can get help from Students’ Health and the Counselling Service. Just give us a call or pop by if you are feeling down and would like help.

 

I’d rather admit I like Justin Bieber

studenthealth Men's health, Mental Health, Uncategorized

Obviously an extreme example, but apparently us blokes would rather own up to liking the irritating pint-sized pop prince than admitting we’re feeling down. We’d rather admit to being a bad driver, not liking football and having problems getting an erection.  All rather than opening up and saying, “I feel crap”. Are we stuck with some weird macho ideal, of ‘manning-up’, ‘zipping up the mansuit’ or ‘growing a pair’? Maybe the bravest thing is admitting things aren’t quite right…

This week (10 – 16 June) is Men’s Mental Health Week, and the Men’s Health Forum is challenging men to talk about feeling crap before acting on it. Men and women experience mental health problems in roughly equal numbers, yet men are much less likely to be diagnosed and treated for it.  The consequences can be fatal –3 in 4 suicides are by men and 73% of people who go missing are men.  In the UK, over 4500 men kill themselves each year and two-thirds of drink-related deaths are male. More men hang themselves than die on the roads.

Martin Tod, chief executive of the Men’s Health Forum, reckons: “If all men could talk about how they were feeling with confidence, I don’t think we’d be looking at horrific figures like these. Whatever the problem, your GP has heard it before. And these days there are telephone and online options too. Don’t bottle it up.”

For online information check out http://www.malehealth.co.uk/howRU

The best place to start though? Probably with your GP; not with JB.

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/students-health/

Like the ad used to say, ‘it’s good to talk’…

Cheers,

A. Bloke Esq.

‘Safeguarding adults’; what does that mean?

studenthealth General, Mental Health, Uncategorized ,

Every adult has a right to respect dignity, privacy, equity and a life free from abuse. That is the firmly held belief of all those who work here at Students’ Health Service, and we see our role partly as being here to protect ‘vulnerable adults’. Many of us hear that phrase and think of adults with learning disabilities, say, but it also encompasses any adult who, because of mental ill health, emotional disturbance, physical disability, cultural or social isolation, may lack the resources to protect themselves against significant harm or exploitation. So it can, unfortunately, describe some of the students we look after, and even someone you might know, though you may not have considered them ‘vulnerable’ before.

If you are worried about someone, that they may be being abused or exploited, or if you are worried about yourself, then we are here to help you. The whole team receives training in supporting adults with safeguarding issues, and we can engage other services to help us if we need to. Examples of abuse include physical violence in a relationship, sexual abuse, including where someone is pressurised to consent, not just where consent was withheld, psychological abuse through intimidation or hostility, and financial abuse such as theft, and misuse of benefits. We are also aware of occasional cases of racial and discriminatory abuse, and are able to offer support in these situations too.

Abusers can be someone the vulnerable adult knows well, or a person in a position of authority above them. Whatever the situation we can ensure confidentiality and sharing of information on a need to know basis, and we will not disclose personal information inappropriately.

If you suspect abuse, please report it. If you would like our support then please talk to any one of our clinical team, and we will ensure you are cared for with the respect and dignity that everyone deserves.

 

Other support;

 

Hate crime unit; http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/community_safety/hate_crime/help-and-support.aspx

Domestic abuse; http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/community_safety/crime_reduction/violent_crime/domestic_violence/index.aspx

http://www.wellaware.org.uk/organisations/12984-bristol-freedom-programme

http://www.nextlinkhousing.co.uk/

 

 Honour based violence; http://www.karmanirvana.org.uk/

Legal Highs; a dangerous lottery

studenthealth Drugs, Uncategorized

For the team at Students’ Health the ‘Festival Season’ usually heralds a significant increase in the number of cases of Trench Foot we deal with. A combination of knee deep mud for 3 days and cheap footwear is guaranteed to lead to a consultation for a grim looking foot with bits hanging off.

However we have also noted over the last few years a significant increase in the number of people worried about how they are feeling after taking a ‘legal high’ whilst partying.  These after-effects can last days, and as we have little research available on them we can’t be sure that they won’t have long term detrimental effects too.

Names of legal highs include; benzo fury, bubble, m-cat, liquid E, and scoop.

So before you head off to Glasto/ Bestival/ Winchester Chamber Music Festival 2013 (just kidding!) perhaps consider this…

 

  • Legal highs are substances that are taken like illegal drugs, such as cocaine, but not currently covered by the misuse of drugs laws, and therefore legal to possess or use.
  • Just because they are legal they are not necessarily approved for use or safe. Most are not suitable for human consumption. They are usually sold as ‘plant food’ or ‘bath salts’.
  • Some legal highs contain illegal compounds.
  • Risks are unpredictable as their components can change from one pill to the next. Recent research at the club drugs’ clinic in London found that 2 items, identically packaged, purchased from the same website on the same day were in fact 2 completely different chemical compounds when analysed. You would have no idea what you are actually taking.
  • Some previously legal highs have now become illegal, eg Black Mamba, Annihilation and Mexxy, and others are being looked at all the time by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
  • Their effects include drowsiness, paranoid states, reduced inhibitions, seizures, coma and death. Some completely destroy the bladder, leading to permanent incontinence.

 

Taking legal highs is a risky business, and if you are interested in reports from users then click on the link below.

http://www.talktofrank.com/drug/legal-highs

We want you to enjoy the summer and all the festivals, whatever your musical tastes! Please think seriously about the consequences of  entering the ‘legal high lottery’.

Feeling Pale and Pasty?!

studenthealth General, skin health, Uncategorized, Wellbeing , , , , , , , , ,

Feeling pale and pasty? Feel like a quick visit to the tanning salon to use the sun bed? Think again….

Recent research published in the British Medical Journal has shown evidence that the increase in use of artificial sources of ultraviolet radiation such as indoor tanning devices like sun beds is associated with an increase in risk  of the 3 main skin cancers including malignant melanoma, an aggressive form. This risk is increased if the first exposure to artificial UV radiation is before the age of 35 yrs.

The authors of the study estimated that 3438 cases of malignant melanoma could be prevented each year in Western Europe by avoiding exposure to indoor tanning. The World Health Organisation has now classified tanning beds as a group 1 carcinogen alongside tobacco smoking and asbestos.

Still feeling pale and pasty? Feel like planning a holiday somewhere hot and sunny? Think again…..

It has long been recognised that excessive exposure of the skin to the direct UVA and UVB rays of direct sunlight increases the risk of developing skin cancers of all types. Episodes of sunburn greatly increase this risk as skin cells that are damaged are at greater risk of becoming abnormal and cancerous.

Take measures to be ‘sun safe’

Avoid the sun when the sun is strongest in the middle of the day.

Cover up when you are out in direct sunshine for a prolonged time.

Use high factor sunscreen with UVA and UVB protection and reapply it regularly.

Still feeling pale and pasty? There is an answer……

Opt for a spray tan and take a walk, quite literally, on the sunny side of the street. Exposure to a moderate amount of direct sunlight is actually beneficial.

Vitamin D is vital for good health, growth and strong bones and is made in the skin with the help of sunlight. We also get a small amount from the foods we eat (oily fish, egg yolk and fortified foods eg. some breakfast cereals).

To prevent deficiency of Vitamin D it is estimated that we need 2 to 3 sun exposures per week in the summer months (April to September), lasting 20-30 mins, to bare arms and face. This needs to be in direct sunlight and not through a window. This is not the same as suntanning and sunburn should be avoided at all costs.

How can we help?

If you have any new or changing skin lesions, and particularly if you have been a heavy user of indoor tanning and sun beds, or have a history of multiple episodes of sunburn, the doctors at the Students’ Health Service

would be very keen to take a look at them. The earlier any skin cancer is caught, the better the outcome of treatment.

Further information:

Sunsmart- www.cancerresearchuk.org/sunsmart

Sun Awareness Fact sheet- www.bad.org.uk/site/734/default.aspx

Sun and Health- www.patient.co.uk/health/sun-and-health

Reference:

BMJ 6 October 2012 Volume 345.

Editorial p7, Research p14/15, Personal View p31

Online resources for medical matters

studenthealth General, Mental Health, travel, Uncategorized, Wellbeing , , , ,

For someone who never went to medical school Dr Google seems to be an incredibly popular and sought after ‘specialist’.  A significant number of people will turn to the internet for information and advice before seeking professional help, and this is a good idea in the right context. There are some fantastic resources out there, and so I thought it might be helpful to list a few of them, to improve the quality of the results our patients are getting when they go online, and to save time for those who get drawn into elaborate and complex searches featuring more and more worrying symptoms and diagnoses!

First off, a safe and reliable place to start for all medical queries;

www.patient.co.uk

Next up, for info on local services, how the NHS can help, conditions, and health costs;

www.nhs.uk

And for travel advice

www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk

Lastly for mental health advice and support;

www.mind.org.uk  or

 www.bigwhitewall.com

which is an award-winning online mental wellbeing service. It offers the first online pathway for mental health and wellbeing, placing people at the centre of their own care.  It enables people to access well governed, safe therapeutic services through self-referral from the comfort of their own homes.

Apps;

The NHS has also realised the need for a reliable single source of credible and safe online resources and has recently launched its Health Apps Library, at last month’s NHS Healthcare Innovation Expo in London.

Here at SHS we are particularly interested in the ‘Patient Access’ App, as we already have the online facility allowing our patients to book appointments and re order repeat prescriptions via the internet, but it would be brilliant to have a phone app too, making it potentially even simpler. We will be looking into how to adopt this app, but it is something that the local health community may need to fund, so watch this space.

The Sound Doctor App; An Audio app which enables patients to listen to information about their long term conditions and therefore help them look after themselves more easily and get the best out of life.Leading doctors, nurses, patients and other relevant health professionals have been interviewed to provide a really comprehensive look at a number of long term conditions.All the information is presented in short chapters of between 3 and 5 minutes each with several interviewees in each chapter.

ActiveMe App; Developed by NHS experts in CFS/ME, activity record charts are widely used to help patients and
practitioners work together to develop a daily baseline of energy use before increasing it in regular steps
to enable you to achieve your goals.Fast, easy, portable and discreet, ActiveME can help you balance your activities.

Type 1 Diabetes (Alcohol guide) App; Having type 1 diabetes means that it is important to know how to keep safe when having alcohol. This guide aims to help you find out what to do to keep safe and how alcohol can affect your body.This App has been designed based on ideas and suggestions provided during the qualitative interviewing of young people with type 1 diabetes aged between 18 and 21. It has been developed in collaboration with the Poole Hospital Diabetes Centre in the UK for use by their patients.

PillManager App; helps you manage your medications, never forget them, and also helps with re ordering them too.

These are just a few to get you thinking.

See our website for loads more Useful Links

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/students-health/links/

 

Running Late AGAIN?!

studenthealth General, Uncategorized

“OMG! She’s running late AGAIN! I’ve got a lecture in half an hour… what shall I do…? I’ll just wait for a bit and see… how can she always run late? What’s the point of booking an appointment time if I am never seen on time?! Grrrr…”

Meanwhile, in a room down the corridor…

“OMG I’m running late again! Why does this always happen to me? I hate keeping people waiting, but it’s so difficult to balance the lists of ailments that some people bring, and the complex mental health issues of others. All in 10 minutes. Now the phone’s ringing…

Yes, ok I’ll speak to that mum later, send me an email and I’ll call her back once we have consent from the student.

Now who’s at the door, grrr, an urgent prescription, ok just this once, but please leave it in my basket next time.

Right, where was I? Write myself a note to check if those results are back this afternoon.

Ok, next person, ‘buzzzz’.

Now the minutes are ticking by as they gather their things together in the waiting room… then strolling down to my door, and here we are…

Hi, come in have a seat. How can I help today? Three things to discuss? OK, let’s see what we can do…

Sorry the phone’s ringing, let me just see what that is, the on-call biochemist? Ok yes, put them through. Sorry, I just need to ask about a result…

Now where were we?

Panic attacks, and depressed you say, ok, tell me all about it…”

 

At the Students’ Health Service we are very aware of time keeping issues, and that quite often our patients have to wait to see us. We would, of course, rather that this was kept to a minimum, but we hope that you will understand that there are some things that can’t be rushed, and that we try to give each person the time they need, when they need it.  Everyone’s time is precious, we really do understand that.

We have all taken part in extra communications skills training in the last year, to try to identify more efficiently ways of working, but there will always be difficult situations, and therefore we hope that you will understand the challenging line we tread when trying to run to time.

 

Thank you for being patient.

 

Sit less, Move more!

studenthealth General, Uncategorized, Wellbeing , , , ,

Ignoring your parents, and other ways to save your life

by John Wilford

 

“Don’t do that”

“Put that down”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full”

 Familiar ‘instructions’ heard by kids, of all ages.  Now the truly disgusting ones…

 “Sit down!”

“Sit still!”

 Mum, you got it so wrong.

 If you are reading this sitting down, please, get up. Standing comfortably? Then we’ll begin…

 Sitting is killing us.  It has become a ‘goto’ topic for the BBC on slow news days, and a recent article on the Harvard Business Review blog condemns sitting as our generation’s smoking.  There is an increasing body of evidence, generated by clever academic types on both sides of the Atlantic, showing just how bad sitting is for us.

Research in the USA shows people spending more time sitting (9.3 hours per day) than asleep (7.7 hours).  Like it or not, the UK is in the same ballpark.

Add up the time spent sat at your desk, in the library, in lectures, seminars, meetings and tutorials.  Time spent sat in the car or on the bus. Then there’s ‘leisure sitting’ – watching TV, at the computer or games console.  Sitting, just sitting. Oh, sit.

Further research suggests that if you sit for more than 6 hours a day, you are 40% more likely to die within the next 15 years than someone sitting for just 3 hours.  The bombshell is that this is true even if you exercise. Sedentary behaviour (sitting/lying whilst awake) is not just a lack of physical activity; it’s bad in its own right. As soon as you sit down, your leg muscles switch off, calorie burn drops to 1 per minute and after 2 hours your ‘good cholesterol’ has dropped 20%.  Whether you are an exerciser or not.  Higher rates of sedentary behaviour correlate with greater risk of mortality, independent of levels of physical activity. 

Sitting is a habit – and a bad one.  Like smoking, or biting your nails (Sorry Mum…).  It’s automatic and easy.  But it is a habit that can be broken. 

Look at what makes you sit, and where and when you could do without it.  On the phone? Stand up.  Having a short meeting? Ignore the chairs. On the laptop? Raise it up and stand (use window sills, cabinets, even the ironing board). This is before we even get to walking more – park your car further away from destination, take the stairs not the lift, etc etc…..

Yes, there are times that you will need to sit.  But limit it.  Get up and move around frequently. Swap standing and moving for sitting wherever possible.

 

Take a stand against sitting – sit less, move more.