Cathy Dobbs: Flu puts a damper on festive fun

I don’t want to tell them the truth, which is that we had to cancel everything because I spent the festive season ill with flu. I wasn’t alone though, as according to NHS England an average of 3,746 people with flu were in hospital across the seven days to 25 December.

It’s probably been our quietest Christmas, but on the bright side there has been no cooking, no rushing around – and no weight gain!

Long Covid sounds debilitating, with tiredness, muscle aches and brain fog among the main symptoms. However, it seems that many women who complain of Long Covid could actually be experiencing the menopause instead. This means that women could be missing work, not taking a promotion or retiring early because they aren’t receiving the right treatment.

Now, if only those women could get a doctor’s appointment we may end up saving the country millions in lost productivity.

In the last few years we have fully embraced the menopause and it hardly ever seems to be out of the news; whether it’s Davina McCall talking about her symptoms, Gwyneth Paltrow promoting her vitamins, or Oprah Winfrey discussing her heart palpitations.

A recent report by the Global Wellness Summit said menopause merchandise is projected to turn over £492 billion worldwide by 2025. Even though they should be thanked for pushing menopause into mainstream conversation, we can’t just rely on celebrities and wellness companies when it comes to our health.

The start of a new year makes us think about changes we want to make. As we are only in the first week of January there are plenty of people who will still be feeling optimistic about their new year’s resolutions.

If you are thinking of learning a new skill, experts have said the best thing you can do is stop scrolling through your social media feeds and immerse yourself in boredom. It seems looking at attention-grabbing posts and videos stops the build-up of ‘profound boredom’ which we all need to spark creativity.

Various artists and writers have said that boredom was a trigger for their work, including authors JK Rowling and Agatha Christie.

So, if your new year’s resolution is to develop a new passion or skill, turn off your phone and schedule in some boredom time – you could end up producing the next bestseller.