Latest news with #JavierGonzalez
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
'I was being pushed towards heaven and hell - it was a near death experience'
When a tube train failed to stop and crashed into the tunnel at Moorgate, in London killing 43 people and injuring 74 more in 1975 survivor Javier Gonzalez had what he describes as a near death experience For half a century pensioner Javier Gonzalez has believed he is one of the luckiest men alive - after surviving the Moorgate tube crash that killed 43 people and injured 74 others on February 28, 1975. Fifty years ago he sat in the first carriage - which was crushed down from 16 metres long to just 6.1 metres - as it crashed into the wall at 8.46am. It was a miracle he survived and he told The Mirror how he had a near-death experience where he remembers being pushed towards heaven and hell. 'I could see underneath me a valley with a river, trees and people and it felt full of love. I wanted to go there but I also wanted to tell everyone about it,' Javier says, describing the moment when he thinks he had a near death experience. 'The next minute I was being pushed down into a very dark area where I could hear screams, I could smell rotten smells, it was dark and hot. I now know it wasn't what was happening in the tunnel because everyone was either dead or rescued except for me and the two other people, who were trapped who had already passed.' Just after the accident, when people were more sceptical about near death experiences, he says people listened to his story as if he had gone mad. He even heard someone in hospital say, 'poor man, he's gone nuts.' He's since written a book about his experience called A Ticket to Eternity, despite being plagued with medical problems since the accident - including blood clots, a brain tumour and recurring pain in his head. Even neurologists, he says, have not ruled out that his medical issues could be related to the crash. The Moorgate tube crash was the worst peacetime accident on the London Underground, crushing the first carriage, leaving the second folded at the front, as it collided with the first, with the third riding over the rear of the second. Rescuers had to walk over dismembered limbs and dead bodies and a number of people who were decapitated to find survivors. Describing the scene as 'worse than in a horror movie', it took the emergency services 13 hours to remove the injured, many of whom had to be cut free from the wreckage. One rescuer said the front carriage that Javier was sitting in was 'an indescribable tangle of twisted metal' where 'the living and the dead were heaped together, intertwined among themselves and the wreckage.. writhing in agony.' Javier was trapped there for five hours and is now thankful he passed out, as he didn't have to witness the horrific carnage around him. The next thing he remembers was being pulled to safety. 'A man asked if I could move and when I replied that I couldn't, he told me to cover my face as he pulled me out of the wreckage,' he says. 'I was slipping in and out of consciousness and I remember someone injecting something into my hand." What happened next will stay with him for a lifetime. 'I didn't gain full consciousness until the following morning, the Saturday when I woke up in intensive care at St Bartholomew's Hospital with splatters of other people's blood on my clothes, covered in soot and with bits of broken glass in my hair. There was a nurse standing next to me and after asking me how I was feeling she passed me a newspaper. I remember there were images of the accident and my name was on the front page. 'I had amnesia and was confused and I was reading about an accident that was being described as worse than a warzone or a horror movie. Then I just remember feeling really thankful that God had not let me see it.' Javier's hip was fractured into 100 pieces and he had to have a steel rod inserted inside his leg. For the next six months, he relied on crutches to walk, but he considers himself one of the lucky ones. And he was not left traumatised about using the tube, as he knew the chances of anyone having a second accident on the underground like that were extremely unlikely. The near death experience has also left him unafraid of dying. No fault was found with the train after an investigation. The brakes were not applied, and the dead man's handle was still depressed when it crashed. The inquiry by the Department of the Environment concluded that the accident was caused by the actions of Leslie Newson, the 56-year-old driver.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
If You're Wearing This Popular Health Tool, Experts Say To Take The Readings With 'A Pinch Of Salt'
Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), which are sometimes also known as blood sugar monitors, can be key for people with diabetes. They help those with the condition to keep an eye on their blood sugar levels, potentially preventing them from getting dangerously high or low. But in a site entry, the University of Bath (whose scientists were involved in a recent paper published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) said: 'Originally designed to help people living with diabetes... these devices are now being used by the health-conscious to track how different foods affect their glucose levels.' And according to the recent research, it may be doing healthy people more harm than good. The researchers said that CGMs can often overestimate how much sugar is in a person's blood. When participants drank a smoothie, the CGM overestimated the glucose it gave participants' blood by 30% compared to a blood prick test. Whole fruit, like eating an apple, was classified by the CGM as a medium-glycemic index (GI, or blood-sugar 'spiking') or high-GI food, whereas blood prick tests found they were actually low-GI. CGMs also inaccurately said that participants' blood sugars stayed elevated for nearly 400% above the threshold recommended by Diabetes UK, which could lead to unnecessary and even unsafe diet changes and stress. 'CGMs may be inaccurate because they measure glucose in the fluid surrounding your cells, not directly in your blood,' Professor Javier Gonzalez from the University of Bath, who was involved in the study said. 'This can lead to discrepancies due to factors like time delays, blood flow, and how glucose moves between different parts of the body.' Dr Gonzalez said they're 'fantastic tools for people with diabetes because even if a measurement isn't perfectly accurate, it's still better than not having a measurement at all'. But 'for healthy individuals, relying on CGMs could lead to unnecessary food restrictions or poor dietary choices'. Writing for the expert-led site Science Media Centre, where professionals react to large or viral studies, Dr Adam Collins, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Surrey, said: 'The use and interpretation of CGM devices in healthy individuals should be undertaken with caution.' 'They certainly shouldn't be used as the sole basis for dietary changes, restrictions, or extreme lifestyle changes.' Dr Nicola Guess, academic dietitian at the University of Oxford, said: 'The investigators found that CGMs overestimate glucose to a clinically-relevant degree in healthy people without prediabetes or diabetes. This means that people who have normal glucose may be led to believe they have prediabetes. 'This is one of a growing number of studies which demonstrate how cautious we need to be when interpreting CGM data from a person without diabetes. 'In this study, the CGM estimated the 'time out of range' as 4-fold higher compared to the capillary value. Other studies have found CGMs can also underestimate glucose (for example during exercise) and are particularly inaccurate when glucose concentration changes rapidly. 'Taken together, I would advise people without diabetes using CGMs to interpret the output with a pinch of salt.' I'm A Gynae Health Expert, This Is Why You Get Butt Pain On Your Period Apple Cider Vinegar: What Belle Gibson's Story Tells Us About Our Search For Alternative Health 8 'Micro-Habits' That Can Help You Live A Happier, Healthier Life
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Why popular blood sugar monitors could actually be harming your health
Popular glucose monitors used to take regular blood sugar readings could be driving poor diets and food restrictions due to inaccurate measurements, according to a new study. Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) take blood sugar readings every five minutes and were originally designed for people with diabetes to assess how their body responds to different foods. But they are growing in popularity and in recent years have increasingly been used by the health-conscious to track their diet and avoid glucose spikes. Now, research by University of Bath scientists in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests they may not be as accurate as once thought. The study warns that monitors may be overestimating blood sugar levels in healthy adults and prompting them to make unnecessary changes to their diet. Carried out in healthy, non-diabetic volunteers, the research compared results from a CGM to the gold standard finger-prick test for blood sugar levels. Scientists found that the CGMs consistently reported higher levels than the finger-prick test. The monitors overestimated the time spent above the Diabetes UK's recommended blood sugar level threshold by nearly 400 per cent, causing unnecessary concern for people whose blood sugar was actually well-controlled. Professor Javier Gonzalez, from the university's department of health, warned people should stick with the finger-prick test if they are looking for accurate readings. 'Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are fantastic tools for people with diabetes because even if a measurement isn't perfectly accurate, it's still better than not having a measurement at all,' he said. 'However, for someone with good glucose control, they can be misleading based on their current performance. 'For healthy individuals, relying on CGMs could lead to unnecessary food restrictions or poor dietary choices.' While CGMs were initially designed for those with diabetes, they have been increasingly used by other health conscious people simply to track their diet and avoid glucose spikes. After consuming a smoothie, one monitor showed a GI (Glycemic index) of 69, which is medium, while the finger-prick test showed a GI of 53, which is low. Whole fruits, which are classified as low-GI by finger prick tests, were classified as medium or high-GI foods by CGMs. Professor Gonzalez said CGMs may be inaccurate because they measure glucose in the fluid surrounding your cells, not directly in the blood. 'This can lead to discrepancies due to factors like time delays, blood flow, and how glucose moves between different parts of the body,' he said. Helen Whitby, company nutritionist at Innocent Drinks, which partly funded the research, said: "Smoothies and whole fruits are packed full of natural goodness and provide steady energy without sharp blood sugar spikes.'
The Independent
26-02-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Why popular blood sugar monitors could actually be harming your health
Popular glucose monitors used to take regular blood sugar readings could be driving poor diets and food restrictions due to inaccurate measurements, according to a new study. Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) take blood sugar readings every five minutes and were originally designed for people with diabetes to assess how their body responds to different foods. But they are growing in popularity and in recent years have increasingly been used by the health-conscious to track their diet and avoid glucose spikes. Now, research by University of Bath scientists in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests they may not be as accurate as once thought. The study warns that monitors may be overestimating blood sugar levels in healthy adults and prompting them to make unnecessary changes to their diet. Carried out in healthy, non-diabetic volunteers, the research compared results from a CGM to the gold standard finger-prick test for blood sugar levels. Scientists found that the CGMs consistently reported higher levels than the finger-prick test. The monitors overestimated the time spent above the Diabetes UK's recommended blood sugar level threshold by nearly 400 per cent, causing unnecessary concern for people whose blood sugar was actually well-controlled. Professor Javier Gonzalez, from the university's department of health, warned people should stick with the finger-prick test if they are looking for accurate readings. 'Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are fantastic tools for people with diabetes because even if a measurement isn't perfectly accurate, it's still better than not having a measurement at all,' he said. 'However, for someone with good glucose control, they can be misleading based on their current performance. 'For healthy individuals, relying on CGMs could lead to unnecessary food restrictions or poor dietary choices.' While CGMs were initially designed for those with diabetes, they have been increasingly used by other health conscious people simply to track their diet and avoid glucose spikes. After consuming a smoothie, one monitor showed a GI (Glycemic index) of 69, which is medium, while the finger-prick test showed a GI of 53, which is low. Whole fruits, which are classified as low-GI by finger prick tests, were classified as medium or high-GI foods by CGMs. Professor Gonzalez said CGMs may be inaccurate because they measure glucose in the fluid surrounding your cells, not directly in the blood. 'This can lead to discrepancies due to factors like time delays, blood flow, and how glucose moves between different parts of the body,' he said. Helen Whitby, company nutritionist at Innocent Drinks, which partly funded the research, said: "Smoothies and whole fruits are packed full of natural goodness and provide steady energy without sharp blood sugar spikes.'
