While the title of this week’s post may be stating the blindingly obvious (!), in this high tech world of ours it’s all too easy to reach for the painkillers at the first sign of any pain or discomfort. 

 

Sadly, this trend is borne out by figures recently released in America. These showed that prescriptions of opium based painkillers have increased by over 300% in the last 10 years. And, where America goes, all too often England follows. 

 

Alongside this addiction to painkillers – whether on prescription, over the counter or on the black market – is increasing at an alarming rate, particularly among teenagers and young adults. With painkillers now considered a “gateway drug” to heroin, it’s not surprising that alarm bells are ringing loudly. 

 

At the same time, by a strange twist of fate, it’s also been suggested that using opium based painkillers to manage pain over the longer term may actually increase pain, rather than helping to reduce or manage it. 

With the madness or the festive season behind us, there can be little doubt about the power of advertising. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s this year’s “must have” or part of an ongoing brand building advertising campaign. 

 

What’s particularly interesting are the comments we’ve heard from a number of people of all ages – including some who really should have known better (!) – since the new year. These have all been along the lines of “What on earth possessed me to ask for the latest gizmo / game / fill in the blank.” 

 

So how can we so easily be wooed into buying things we don’t really want – or need – or that don’t make our lives any better as a result? 

Over the last few years white refined sugar has become Public Enemy Number One, with repeated advice to remove it completely from our diets. While salt may not have quite reached that status, many column inches – and news stories – have been devoted to its impact on long term health, coupled with advice to adopt a low salt diet. 

 

At first glance this advice appears to be perfectly sensible but is it really that simple? That salt is inherently bad for us and should be removed from our diets as far as possible. 

 

While this advice makes a great soundbite – and one that’s easy to remember, if not to follow – sadly it isn’t quite that simple. 

Welcome to the first blog post of 2017 and the start of another bright shiny new year. May 2017 be a fantastic year for you! 

 

Having greeted all those we’ve met in a similarly upbeat manner for the last couple of days, it’s interesting that the majority of responses have been much less cheerful. Verging on the positively grumpy at times (!).