LIVE FOREVER Want to stick around as long as Spain’s Maria - age 116?
All about
JANUARY 2024
Walk your way fit ... and live 16 years longer
R THE LONGE LIFE ress.es
www.theolivep
the t the best in Spain amongsexpectancy world for life Lancet prestudy by The
D
shed some ESPERATE to timber but apexcess festive hitting the prehensive about local gym?
world’s A 2018 to worry as sciencould hold the2040, at There’s no need the best way to dicted Spain cy by tists have revealed cy in highest life expectan - a daily walk. life expectan By Yzabelle Bostyn get into shape 85.8 years old. ts have speculated THE averagefourth highest in the highlighted sevinwalks Researchers have that can bring a Other specialis Spain is the years above the siestas, regular could eral small changes ing, health-imworld and three Korea (83.6). life expec- that frequent frequent sex y of 83.3, (83.9) and and even more wide range of anti-agenhancing benternational average. s live to at leastby the The worldwide average the UK be influencing the longevit fitness-e with and Spaniard years, Most proving is just 80.3 years. a new report also rankSpaniards. above, at 80.4 according to for Economic Co-op- tancy can alefits. clocking in justSpain’s high life ex- This comes despite Spain greater intent . Organisation such as toWalking with strengthen muscles ment (OECD) to good ing highly for negatives the oldest takes It is believed eration and Develop could be linked leviate stress, n, and alcohol use. flexibility and Australia which SAMPLES fromworld - Maria bacco, cocaine in cocaine They tie with the report, Health at pectancyide healthcare provisio in the and bones, increase well as The country ranks third in woman nationw as without the addianalysed spot all the diet, being fourth ranean use, following a. lengthen lives, fitness classes. Branyas - are the key to a long at 84.5 the Mediter a glance. UK and Australi tional costs of found that nasal the top spot, to try and find the warm climate. year, Japan took by Switzerland In the last a Studies have life. of walks, the techfrom Cataluny years, followed almost 3% UK breathing during g through your The Spaniard le 116 years old, of breathin incredib adults in the enan tions is nique mouth, complica your and Spain admitto but has no health and mobility nose rather than coof improvements ted to using past other than hearing ables a range health. anacaine in the Ausissues. al Sciences is your cardiovasculared by Colorado her age, she year and in the El BurriUniversity of Agricultur Unlike most peoplescular probResearch conduct extract- The from animals at ty showed athletes tralia this figure team has been what lysing the blood on, in Hinojos, in Andalucia’s has zero cardiova issues, and State Universi nasal breathing had to see A SWEDISH university rose to 4%. the lems nor memory to Feliz AssociatiDoñana National Park. Spanish donkeys who practiced ry rate than when s stories from ing blood fromto help humans who are losing However, Spain at the ‘enormouto can recount if they happened respirato inlooking lowest lower is a It learnt can be manes their mouths, had the age of four as strength’ of theirto be transbreathing through flow of oxygen their hair. rates of overall ly yesterday. has previous obtain a formulahair. use in the dicating an improvedeam. herself opioid Maria e HAIR natural yoghurt ferred to human Negro exthrough the bloodstra weighted vest world, alongsid and credited eating just BRAINED Researcher Juan her longevity, “I Likewise, wearing Israel, with usate the health are looking at each day for ’, adding: SCHEME?: plained: “We of hair was found to accentu 0.1% of adults the avoiding ‘excesses little, but evwalk. Donkeys the characteristics ing opioids in benefits of a dailyed by the journal by humans folhave always eaten in Doñana growth sharedd animals. I have never not conduct year. and , who study last A erything ed men to I have could help and four-legge will find posAccording data, Ergonomics suggest lowed any regime. vest burnt 6% cure bald“Hopefully we to baldness, any illness or been most recent 7th (a 2.5 wore a nine-kilo suffered from g room.” ness sible remedies than without t to some Spain rankedalcothrough an operatin more calories is recommended for which is importan in terms of kilogram vest peohol use, the averwomen). conthe speed of ple.” litres. age person average is 8.6 Best of all, altering rates were also greatest impact. suming 10.5 litres s, with Spanish smoking a walk has the of power walkworld average per capita. higher than 15 smoking Even small bursts l to reduce people over They drink more have the potentia s such as UK, 19.8% of ing the in disease than ranked daily. d to the international averthe risk of key . which with li- Compare UK ranks low, type 2 diabetes 11th, with 10 age of 16%, the smoking daily. tres per capita. just 12.7% of people The international
Old age wonder
TMENT DONKEY TREA
ulls No protection Numbsk
OLIVE PRESS MALLORCA
The
Sponsored by
Take a a look at our tips inside our special health supplement
ON BEST WEAP
appointment free without an are now available FLU vaccinations around Andalucia. respiratory illnessas the spread of at all health centres however, just a fall The move comes across Spain, with is starting to subside. es, such as flu, of 2024 saw a 3.2% decrease s. The first week cases per 100,000 resident nationwide with only from 966 to 935has the second lowest rateby the Balearic Islands. also ia bettered only Andaluc per 100,000. 100,000, a rate rate of 1691 cases 460 cases per has an infection Castilla-La Mancha
FREE
Your expat
VIEWS WITH A BLOOM
A breathtaking natural spectacle is just round the corner See page 14
voice in Spain
Vol. 7 Issue 173 www.theolivepress.es January 26th - February 8th 2024
NEVER AGAIN! sleep with someone s say they ‘almost who had a ‘sexual insaid FOUR in 10 Spaniardduring sex. fection’, but 30% never’ use a condomreason (40%) for not it depended on the type. of othfour out of The most common was the ‘existence Despite this, say they do not using protection of the peo10 Spaniards er methods’. they forgo condoms due check the sexual health status it Some 29% say ’, while 18% say ple they sleep with. s and Sex, spoke to sensitivity of to a ‘loss report, Spaniard . s have The men and women aged between ‘ruins the moment’ 30% of Spaniard 2,000 Meanwhile, only for HIV. 18 and 58. ever been checked said they would not Almost half (48%)
te a pioneer in priva nal Hospital, ital GibMed Internatio d to be the first private hosp prou a focus on healthcare, is in Gibraltar. With nd Better Beyo to open its doors go promise is to innovation, our www.gibmed.
gi | (+350) 200
49999 | info@g
ibmed.gi | Floor
2, ICC Buildin
A BRITISH expat has died after being given the deadly painkiller Nolotil for a shoulder injury, it has emerged. Mark Brooks, 42, was enjoying a game of golf near his home in Alicante when he began experiencing shoulder pain. The next day, he went to his local health clinic on the Costa Blanca, where he received a shot of metamizole, also known as Nolotil. Some 48 hours later the gardener, from Derbyshire, was admitted to hospital in Torrevieja with depleted white blood cells and sepsis.
FINAL HOLE: Just 48 hours later, Mark (centre left ) was dead
g, Gibraltar, GX11
1AA
The next day, he was taken into intensive care with organ failure. Two days later, he was dead. His partner, Summer Moses (right) has been left to pick up the pieces with their fouryear-old daughter, Aurora. The pair had been planning to get married, before the tragic incident took Mark’s life in October last year. “Summer was in complete shock. One day he was playing golf, really excited, and then the next he was dead,” anti-Nolotil campaigner Christina del Campo told the Olive Press this week. “She’s now working two jobs just to make ends meet. It’s not just his life that’s been ruined, it’s her life and her daughter’s too. All because of a painkiller.” The incident happened when he attended a clinic popular with expats in Ciudad Quesada on October 15. Within hours of receiving an injection of Nolotil he developed a rash and blisters on his buttocks. When he was taken to A&E in Torrevieja,
CALUM Best has been acquitted of sexually assaulting a British holidaymaker at Wayne Lineker’s Ibiza beach club two years ago. Judges ruled that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Best forced the tourist’s hand down his shorts to touch his penis. The reality TV star, who had flown into Mallorca to attend the trial, declared afterwards that the ‘truth had prevailed’ and thanked his fans for their support. The son of legendary footballer George Best and TV celebrity in his own right, Best, 42, faced a possible three-year prison sentence if convicted. The court found that the testimony of Best’s female accuser on its own was insufficient to overturn the presumption of innocence. The judges were unimpressed by the lack of corroboration for her allegations and wondered why the prosecution had not called key witnesses to testify. Both the woman’s friend who was with her at
British expat, 42, dies after taking Nolotil: Father-of-one developed sepsis after being given the ‘lethal’ painkiller for a minor golf injury
that Mark’s death was as the result ‘an apparent allergic reaction to doctors found he had a low metamizole’. white blood cell count, along- Anything but the first, side signs of liver and kidney the drug has now been TRAGIC: 4-yearlinked to over 40 deaths failure. old Aurora is left His condition rapidly deteri- in Spain, including without her dad, orated and just four days af- many expats. Mark (above) ter receiving the injection, he So dangerous is the drug, the Olive Press slipped into a coma. launched a campaign in 2017 to have it banned agranulocytosis’ among cerDeaths for expat patients, in particu- tain populations. According to death certifi- lar, as many clinics continued A 1999 Swedish study esticate records, Brooks’ cause of to hand out the drug. mated the risk at one in every death on October 20 was ‘or- Spain’s most popular sub- 2000 prescriptions, with a gan failure, septic shock and scription painkiller, Nolotil is 26% mortality rate. cellulitis.’ known to have adverse effects It is believed the drug could Now his ex-partner has on Northern Europeans and have contributed to up to 350 reached out to the Nolotil is banned in 30 countries, in- cases of agranulocytosis, incampaign group, the Associa- cluding Britain, Ireland, Aus- cluding 170 Britons living in tion of Drug Affected Patients tralia and the US. Spain. (ADAF) run by del Campo. A 2018 report from the Eu- Yet incredibly, only one SpanIt came after she discovered ropean Medicines Agency ish health authority, Catalundocuments, which revealed showed a ‘potential to induce ya, has warned against using the drug as a first-choice painkiller. It ruled there was ‘no evidence’ it was better at controlling pain than ‘safer alternatives’ like paracetamol or ibuprofen. Meanwhile, one English expat newspaper recently even the time and the security guard who hanpublished a two-page feature dled the situation initially remained away effectively promoting the from the courtroom. drug. The accuser had claimed that Best had It came just after ADAF betold her, ‘I’ve got something for you, gan legal action against the close your eyes’ and forced her right Spanish Medical Agency (AEhand down his trousers. MPS) in November, claiming The accuser said: “I remember crying a 2018 government directive and having a panic attack and going to speak to the security guard immediately afterwards.” The incident, which left her in ‘shock and tears,’ occurred on April 22, 2022, at O Beach club in San Antonio, Ibiza. Best was arrested shortly after and held in custody for about a day. The reality TV star blamed the incident on the woman’s drunken state. By Yzabelle Bostyn
Best cleared
952 147 834
not to sell Nolotil to Northern Europeans is not being followed. “We’re not looking for money or damages. We want to make them stop giving Nolotil to British people,” explained del Campo.
Regulations
“I want them to revise and modify regulations and investigate cases properly. They need to act because it keeps being given without a prescription. People’s lives are at stake.” The campaigner is also demanding new analysis of the risks of the drug and a revision of the information sheet given to medical professionals. Boehringer Ingelheim, the company that makes Nolotil, claims all the side effects are clearly listed in its information packet. Opinion Page 6
Tel: 952 147 834 TM
See pages 12 & 15