New Year Pandemics

On the dawn of each New Year, records stream wildly on the media of the newest foreign affliction. In 1999 it was mad cow disease, in 2009 swine flu reached UK land and now a bird flu pandemic threatens to cross Chinese waters to infect the brits.
Is it simply media spin mixed with paranoia and ignorance that leads us to hide under our blankets, and tell the boss “it’s S&D”, when only your nose is running - or is there possibly another cause?

After all the excitement of the festive period finally calms down, the turkey gets thrown out, the decorations put away and you munch that last mince pie. There seems to be a worldwide collective downward plummet into New Year illnesses, which later follow onto cold evening droughts of bottle abuse – even though you drank a skinful over Christmas.
Like a trigger, the brand new beginnings seem to follow on the start of coughs, colds and S.A.D (seasonal adjustment disorder).
We all understand that in the coming months, winter will always be a season filled with this kind of national ‘health’. But we can’t deny that sometimes it’s our own attitudes that lead us to the Night Nurse.

All would agree that returning to work plays a big factor in making you feel like hell; it’s not that you necessarily dislike your job, you just don’t rise well before the sun does.
Recently I’ve began to understand those that work the 9-5pm shift. They will happily fall out of their 6am wake up and four bus journeys a day routine.
In the colder months, we all need a few extra hours that we aren’t getting, perhaps like the animals we too should be hibernating. But instead we de-ice our cars, rev the engine and sit in rush hour traffic most of the morning.
The added stress, can lead to depression and then physical illness, in fact if you don’t recognise the pattern, it might keep going around in circles.

The media often point the finger at numerous causes, spreading the statistics and ‘facts, then forget to flag up the one thing that funnily enough, might be the real cause of our weak immune systems.
On top of this, the second January hits, every girl in eyeshot begins to panic about the 4lbs they’ve gained. Creating mass female starvation, where 500 calories a day is greedy.
Zumba and the latest fitness craze are a must every weekday night, followed by fatigue and flu like symptoms.
The latest issue of Glamour will have Dr Nuttjobs latest crash diet guaranteed, whatever happened to storing up for the winter?

Perhaps the only answer is to just sit at home warm and cosy with the heating on full blast, don’t work, drink or give a fudge about your how much you’re eating.
Alternatively you could just stop believing everything you read in the media, take it easy and try not to kill yourself.