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Fact Check: Holding your breath for 10 seconds – Coronavirus Test

Holding your breath for 10 seconds, is it fact or fiction that it’s a good test for fibrosis in your lungs and the presence of coronavirus?

This information appeared fairly early on in the coronavirus outbreak. As with many similar claims, it always starts with ‘Experts claim’ or some such pseudo validation.

Here’s an example that I recently received,

Experts suggest doing this simple verification every morning: Breathe in deeply and hold your breath for 10 seconds. If this can be done without coughing, without difficulty, this shows that there is no fibrosis in the lungs, indicating the absence of infection. It is recommended to do this control every morning to help detect infection.

On the face of it, it sounds so simple. And you’ll be thinking, here’s a simple test that everyone can do at any time to determine the health of their lungs and the presence or absence of coronavirus.

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January 2016 proves once again that cancer doesn’t care

January 2016 has been a brutal month where cancer has killed many well loved icons of the entertainment world.

The popular, if tongue in cheek, analogy is that it’s like the Game of Thrones author George R R Martin is writing the script for 2016 instead of finishing his next long overdue book. It’s like all your favourite characters are being killed off in a senseless fashion, enough to make the Red Wedding seem tame by comparison. Continue reading

The Common Cold – Prevention, Timeline & Treatment

A ‘common cold’ can be a real annoyance for a few days. Headache, runny nose, temperature. It’s not pleasant but we get over it in a few days.

A dose of the cold is something most of us have to deal with at least once a year. But we are often not prepared for it and forget how to deal with it, even though it is a semi-regular guest in our lives.

Let’s look at what to expect with the common cold, the timeline of symptoms,  and how to treat the cold. Continue reading

Compare weight loss pills

Which weight loss pill is right for you? Should you try Fat binders like XLS Medical, metabolism boosters or appetite suppressors.

With all the weight loss pills on the market that make claims about losing so much weight, which one should you try? Continue reading

Incentives to keep the weight off after being on a diet

If you have been on a diet and lost a bit of weight, one of the hardest things to do is not let it creep back on again.

First of all, Congratulations on your weight loss.  You have done a great thing and I’m sure you feel a bit better for it.  Now how do you encourage yourself to keep the weight off? Continue reading

My 2 Day Diet Experience – Progress Review – Month 1

Rather than posting every week with my progress on the 2 Day Diet, I will be saving my updates for a monthly post.  This is now the end of the first month so let’s see how things are going.

I am sticking with two days a week quite easily.  For those two days, I am planning my meals and sticking to them.  I admit that I am using prepackaged meals as I don’t want to be bothered with cooking small meals, but it is going well. Continue reading

My 2 Day Diet Experience – Progress Review – Week 1

OK, so I have started doing the 2 Day Diet and it is now the end of Week 1 and time to report on how things went.

Well I have managed to set aside two days out of the week to cut my calories.  Probably the most important thing I did was to plan for those days.  In particular I planned exactly what food I was going to have so that I could plan the calorie intake and hopefully limit myself to just that amount of food. Continue reading

The Fast Diet / 2 Day Diet – My plan for doing it

Having tried other diets and weight loss methods with limited or no success, I am going to try the Fast Diet, otherwise known as the 2 Day Diet.

I am not grossly overweight or anything like that, but the days of fitting into 32 or 33 inch jeans when I was twenty years old have gradually morphed into accepting that I need 36 inch jeans in my mid thirties. There has been a gradual creep in the gut area. And comparing pictures taken then and now, even my face has gained a little padding. Continue reading

The Fast Diet by Dr Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer

Michael Mosley is a medical journalist who was interested in various forms of diet regimes. He went around the world researching various weight loss options and made a documentary for the BBC about his findings. His book The Fast Diet came out of the work for the documentary.

This diet, sometimes referred to as the 5:2 diet, the two day diet or the fast diet, has been subjected to a number of scientific trials and there appears to be evidence for the benefits of intermittent fasting. Continue reading