mirror.co.uk TUESDAY 27.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR^33
DM1STBY MARTIN BAGOTHEALTH
NOTES
Having children makes people
happier, according to European
polling data – but only once
they leave home.
Until then, parents are more
likely to suffer depressive
symptoms and be dissatisfied
with life as they juggle family
responsibilities and work.
Researchers analysed
questionnaires about mental
health, wellbeing and family
and social life taken by 55,000
people aged over 50 in 16
countries.
The findings in the journal
PLOS One suggest that the
benefits of parenthood only
kick in later in life.
Author Dr Christoph Becker,
of the University of Heidelberg
in Germany, said: “Parents on
average had a higher life
satisfaction and fewer
depressive symptoms if their
children were not living in the
same household.
“Once children are older,
have moved out and lead more
independent lives, positive
effects, such as their role as
social contact and care givers
might prevail.”■ Healthy fat is key to why
some people can eat more
meat and dairy products than
others, a study has found.
Lab tests
showed that
brown fat
could help the
body filter and
remove
branched-
chain amino
acids (BCAAs)
from the blood.
BCAAs are found in foods
such as eggs, meat, fish,
chicken and milk, and also in
supplements.
In normal concentrations in
the blood, these amino acids
are essential for good health.
Having too much is linked to
diabetes and obesity.
Prof Labros Sidossis, of
Rutgers University in the US,
said: “Our study explains the
paradox that BCAA
supplements can potentially
benefit those with active
brown fat, such as healthy
people, but can be
detrimental to others,
including the elderly, obese
and people with diabetes.”HEALTH
ME & MY BODY:
GLENN HODDLE
BY AMY PACKER
A NEAR-DEATH experience
can change you, but Glenn
Hoddle never imagined that
suffering a heart attack on
his 61st birthday would see
him become a fan of walking.
“It gives me thinking time and time
to myself,” says the football legend.
“I used to hate walking before – I’ve got
a bad knee because of my football and
that used to all swell up – but I found
I really looked forward to going out,
walking in the rain, whatever. I’d put
some earphones in and I was off.”
The time to himself was vital for the
former England manager to process the
fact he almost died after collapsing on
set at BT Sport’s TV studios in East
London last October.
The Tottenham star’s heart stopped
and his life was only saved because of
the speedy action of sound engineer
Simon Daniels, who restarted his heart
using CPR and a defibrillator, breaking
seven of his ribs in the process.
“I was very lucky. If it hadn’t been for
Simon I wouldn’t be here,” says Glenn.
He was airlifted to hospital, where
doctors found that three of his coronary
arteries were blocked and the fourth
was functioning at one per cent,
meaning the dad of three needed a
quadruple bypass at St Bart’s in London.
Five weeks in hospital was followed
by a period of convalescence at his
home in Berkshire, cared for by his
partner Lisa, 50.
While his physical recovery has been
slow it was the shock of the attack that
has taken longest to deal with. “It came
from nowhere, a total surprise,” says
Glenn, who hadn’t eaten meat for 30
years and as a former sportsman was
extremely active, regularly swimming,
playing golf and going to the gym.
He now believes he may have inher-
ited heart issues from his father, who
suffered clogged arteries before he died,
but which were blamed on smoking.
At first Glenn thought he would need
trauma counselling to deal with his own
experience, but he found opening up to
strangers helped him to move on.
“Because of the football and being
recognised, wherever I’ve
gone in the last nine
months people want to talk
to me about [the heart
attack]. Even at the airport
strangers will want to know
how I’m doing. It is odd and
at first I thought ‘oh, this is
going to be really tough’ but
having to talk about what
happened a lot has been a
part of my recovery.
“It’s been therapeutic to
be open with people and
I’ve found that really interesting. It
means you don’t hide away from it or sit
indoors and think about it too much,
you are out there and you’re talking
about what happened.
“I don’t go too in-depth, but ulti-
mately it was very good for me.”
Hearing other survivors’ stories has
proved equally as helpful to Glenn as
telling his own. “At the very beginning I
couldn’t even watch telly, then for a long
time I couldn’t concentrate on reading
at all, which was strange,” he recalls.
“The first thing I found which engaged
me was a book called Life After
Cardiac Arrest by Paul Swindell. It
was the thing I needed to read.
“In it people tell their own
stories of their heart attacks –
what happened and how theyrecovered – and I found that very
interesting. After something like this
there are certain things emotionally,
physically that you want to do but
can’t, and it gives you parallels so you
can marry up what you’re going
through with what others have expe-
rienced.”
One example was
sneezing, something so
everyday, but which Glenn
found painful after surgery.
“Because they open up
your sternum, sneezing
becomes one of the
hardest things ever,” he
shudders. “My shoulders
used to lock up every
time I sneezed because
you’re trying to protect your-
self. When I read the book I
suddenly knew of five, six, seven other
people who had been through the same
thing. It helps because you think, well,
don’t panic, it will go away. You slowly
get better and it just needs time.”
Today, even in the happiest moments,
Glenn can’t help dwelling on the fact healmost didn’t make it. “I always felt
blessed with my life as a footballer and
certain moments really hit me now, the
gratefulness of being alive and having a
kick-about with my grandchildren,
seeing my son [27-year-old Jamie] play
his first live gig in London, Tottenham
in the Champions League final – those
are all so special.”
Glenn believes the healthy eating
regime he followed since his early career
was key to his survival, and because of
this he has partnered with food brand
LoSalt to urge people to adopt small
changes in their diets now, to put them
in good stead for the future.
“Men in particular should be
monitoring their health more and
thinking about how making small
changes, like checking blood pressureregularly and reducing sodium
intake, can make a big difference,” he
says.
In 2017, excess sodium consump-
tion ranked first for mortality caused
by dietary factors among all men.
Glenn says: “I really wasn’t aware that
having too much salt in my diet could
cause high blood pressure. I’ve been
making my children [as well as Jamie,
Glenn also has two daughters, Zoe, 36,
and Zara, 33] get their numbers
checked.”
Glenn returned to TV in March but
knew he needed to ease himself back
in gently. “My first time back was as a
pundit on a Europa game, so a different
show, filmed in a different part of the
BT Sport studios,” he says. “I had a little
walk around the area where it all
happened. It was quite dark in there
and I had it to myself, so it was nothing
like it was on the day.
“I can’t remember the incident at all
and I think that worked in my favour.
I walked around the area, thinking, and
I found that quite therapeutic. Then,
three or four weeks later, I was ready to
get back on the Saturday morning show.
“That was tough, but lovely as well.
I met other people who were there on
the day, not just Simon but the guys
who grabbed the defibrillator, the ones
who helped get me down to the ambu-
lance. It was tough listening to their
memories, but I got to tell them how
grateful I was for what they did. If the
attack had happened anywhere else, I
wouldn’t be here.”
■ For more information on low sodium
salt alternative LoSalt go to losalt.comMIDFIELD Glenn playing for TottenhamTalking to
strangers
about
my heart
attack was
my therapy
Even at the
airport
strangers
will want to
know how I
am, which I
thought
would be
really toughATTACK Glenn and Robbie
Savage, just before collapse