5:2 Diet book author and TV presenter, Michael Mosley, missing

[weltweit]

RIP

 

[Hollis]

Reminds me of when I was in Bali a few years back. Just arrived the previous day. Been walking around in the midday sun... One minute just feeling unpleasant the next I lost consciousness. Fortunately I was surrounded by locals who got me into a hotel lobby. Dunno if this was heat stroke or heat exhaustion, but didn't get much warning..

 

[freshapple]

Lots of concern about him on social media.
Dunno why - he was one of those diet grifters who gave dangerous advice. Fuck him.

Concern was warranted it seems

 

[Orang Utan]

Concern was warranted it seems

by his family, certainly.

 

[Red Cat]

Of course people are going to feel concern over someone they like on TV or radio. I'm autistic and can't stand a lot of joining in with what can sometimes appear inappropriately overinvolved, or irrational, or performative group behaviour, but I still felt really sad this morning. It was an unexpected death of someone who seemed full of life.

Also, obviously when someone famous dies it evokes our own sense of loss, in the past, or losses to come as middle-aged adults.

It's really not a moral issue.

 

[Orang Utan]

Of course people are going to feel concern over someone they like on TV or radio. I'm autistic and can't stand a lot of joining in with what can sometimes appear inappropriately overinvolved, or irrational, or performative group behaviour, but I still felt really sad this morning. It was an unexpected death of someone who seemed full of life.

Also, obviously when someone famous dies it evokes our own sense of loss, in the past, or losses to come as middle-aged adults.

It's really not a moral issue.

I guess I feel differently cos my only knowledge of him is from seeing his diet books and from my friend’s bad experience from following his advice about diabetes.

 

[WouldBe]

I guess I feel differently cos my only knowledge of him is from seeing his diet books and from my friend’s bad experience from following his advice about diabetes.

From your earlier post your friends problems were caused by his GP not MM.

There are lots of drugs out there that work for most people but can be harmful to others. If your GP prescribed a drug that will cause problems with your medical problems or interact with your other meds that is the fault of the GP not the pharmaceutical company that makes it.

 

[Cid]

For me (also autistic) he falls into the bracket of public figures I once had some trust in, but then got seriously fucked off with once I understood a bit more about what they were doing and the effects they had. Afaik he never worked in nutrition; qualified as a psychiatrist then, pretty soon after, left medicine for journalism and media production. Tim Spector vibes.

For that reason I suppose I feel very detached from the event of his death... there are recent celeb deaths that I've had very different reactions to, and really don't buy into the 'you can't mourn a celebrity', but with Mosley have to say I'm just ambivalent.

Might also seem tasteless to criticise him at this point, but we're already seeing people praising him for his public health work etc. That isn't deserved imo; he helped fuck up my approach to my own health, and my family members' attitudes to that, and I'm sure that is a fairly widely shared experience, if not often an acknowledged or understood one.

 

[Orang Utan]

From your earlier post your friends problems were caused by his GP not MM.

There are lots of drugs out there that work for most people but can be harmful to others. If your GP prescribed a drug that will cause problems with your medical problems or interact with your other meds that is the fault of the GP not the pharmaceutical company that makes it.

Her not his. She was following MM’s advice after reading the MM book.
Dunno why you’re bringing drugs into it. The advice was about diet.

 

[Red Cat]

For me (also autistic) he falls into the bracket of public figures I once had some trust in, but then got seriously fucked off with once I understood a bit more about what they were doing and the effects they had. Afaik he never worked in nutrition; qualified as a psychiatrist then, pretty soon after, left medicine for journalism and media production. Tim Spector vibes.

For that reason I suppose I feel very detached from the event of his death... there are recent celeb deaths that I've had very different reactions to, and really don't buy into the 'you can't mourn a celebrity', but with Mosley have to say I'm just ambivalent.

Might also seem tasteless to criticise him at this point, but we're already seeing people praising him for his public health work etc. That isn't deserved imo; he helped fuck up my approach to my own health, and my family members' attitudes to that, and I'm sure that is a fairly widely shared experience, if not often an acknowledged or understood one.

I'll admit he's not someone I follow, and felt quite surprised at how sad I felt.

More to do with that growing awareness with age and recent experience of the apparent randomness of death and illness and tragedy than anything else probably.

 

[freshapple]

 

[Cid]

I'll admit he's not someone I follow, and felt quite surprised at how sad I felt.

More to do with that growing awareness with age and recent experience of the apparent randomness of death and illness and tragedy than anything else probably.

Oh yeah, there is certainly a part of me that just sees him as a guy I could have known (or been in some sense), and sees the utterly tragic and pointless emptiness of his death. And how that is reflected in those around us as, yeah, we start to get older and everything seems so much more fragile.

 

[Bingoman]

I hope he is at peace and the the family grieve in peace

 

[WouldBe]

Her not his. She was following MM’s advice after reading the MM book.
Dunno why you’re bringing drugs into it. The advice was about diet.

You said earlier that the book was recommended to her by her GP, so it's her gp's fault for not taking into account her medical history.

The bit about drugs was another example of where something would be the fault of the GP rather than the manufacturer.

 

[Orang Utan]

Yes, but the advice was still shite advice.
And he wrote weight loss diet books, so I have no time for him.

 

[WouldBe]

Yes, but the advice was still shite advice.
And he wrote weight loss diet books, so I have no time for him.

Still the gp's fault and lots of people have reported positive outcomes from it.

 

[Cid]

You said earlier that the book was recommended to her by her GP, so it's her gp's fault for not taking into account her medical history.

The bit about drugs was another example of where something would be the fault of the GP rather than the manufacturer.

If the pharmaceutical company specifically states in its documentation that it's suitable for a certain condition, and that's backed up by general guidance from the NHS, then it's not the GP's fault is it?

(I don't know the exact situation obviously, but Mosley has published a book on using VLCDs to treat diabetes, believe the NHS has endorsed it)

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

View attachment 428186

It's so fucking sad because it's the kind of shit that we've all pulled. There have been numerous times I've put myself in danger doing "normal" shit, that in hindsight turned out to be incredibly dangerous.

An hour walk in the heat? So what?!?
Jumping in a lake to save a friend that can't swim?!? Easy.
Overtaking a lorry in on a road you're not familiar with? Child's play.

Life is so resilient and so delicate at the same time. Sometimes it feels like there's no reason that I am alive and I just lucked out. I think this kind of tragedy brings it home as to how fragile we actually are.

We all do #dumbshit without knowing it's dumb shit and most of the time we are fine.

The fact he was so close. Fucking tragic. The fact we all know who he is, brings our mortality home. Specially at our age.

Poor fucking guy. Poor family. It really is very sad regardless of your opinion on his methods.

It could have been me so many times.

 

[Orang Utan]

Still the gp's fault and lots of people have reported positive outcomes from it.

This thread is about MM though, not the GP.
His diet books have received a lot of criticism and weight loss diet books especially have a lot to answer for.

 

[lazythursday]

I think in a way he's done a final bit of service to public health with his death. Raising awareness of the dangers of heat. Because we're going to have a hell of a lot more heatwaves and we're really not prepared as a society for that.

 

[Hollis]

For me (also autistic) he falls into the bracket of public figures I once had some trust in, but then got seriously fucked off with once I understood a bit more about what they were doing and the effects they had. Afaik he never worked in nutrition; qualified as a psychiatrist then, pretty soon after, left medicine for journalism and media production. Tim Spector vibes.

For that reason I suppose I feel very detached from the event of his death... there are recent celeb deaths that I've had very different reactions to, and really don't buy into the 'you can't mourn a celebrity', but with Mosley have to say I'm just ambivalent.

Might also seem tasteless to criticise him at this point, but we're already seeing people praising him for his public health work etc. That isn't deserved imo; he helped fuck up my approach to my own health, and my family members' attitudes to that, and I'm sure that is a fairly widely shared experience, if not often an acknowledged or understood one.

Isn't that more a general question about the whole "popular science" and "smart thinking" genre. It's a double edged sword. They serve a purpose in popularising ideas, but much gets lost with it. I enjoy his "Just one thing" programmes... Listened to a couple this morning, but obviously in 15 minutes they can only go so far. Guess the thing is to treat these things sceptically, rather than resisting the urge to believe you've found your next guru, or some simple truth.

 

[Orang Utan]

Isn't that more a general question about the whole "popular science" and "smart thinking" genre. It's a double edged sword. They serve a purpose in popularising ideas, but much gets lost with it. I enjoy his "Just one thing" programmes... Listened to a couple this morning, but obviously in 15 minutes they can only go so far. Guess the thing is to treat these things sceptically, rather than resisting the urge to believe you've found your next guru, or some simple truth.

I think searching for a guru in the first place is a mistake

 

[Orang Utan]

I’m unfamiliar with the ‘smart thinking’ genre, Hollis - what do you mean by this? Is it not just self-help rebranded or is it something else?

 

[WouldBe]

If the pharmaceutical company specifically states in its documentation that it's suitable for a certain condition, and that's backed up by general guidance from the NHS, then it's not the GP's fault is it?

Drugs do tend to be marketed for certain conditions but they include lists of drug interactions etc. It's the gp's responsibility to make sure that the drug they are prescribing won't interact with other drugs the patient is on or won't affect other conditions the patient may have and it's their (gp's) fault if that happens.

 

[Hollis]

You can actually see it as a section in some bookshops. People like Malcolm Gladwell. They seductively package up a few ideas and sell it as either some new revelation or great truth. At one level they're feel-good reads because they present certainty on an uncertain world.

[I know I'm probably being unduly harsh on some books within the genre...]

 

[Cid]

Drugs do tend to be marketed for certain conditions but they include lists of drug interactions etc. It's the gp's responsibility to make sure that the drug they are prescribing won't interact with other drugs the patient is on or won't affect other conditions the patient may have and it's their (gp's) fault if that happens.

See e.g thalidomide; GPs can only act on guidance. If that guidance is wrong, the GP is not at fault.

 

[Orang Utan]

You can actually see it as a section in some bookshops. People like Malcolm Gladwell. They seductively package up a few ideas and sell it as either some new revelation or great truth. At one level they're feel-good reads because they present certainty on an uncertain world.

[I know I'm probably being unduly harsh on some books within the genre...]

I don't think you are!

 

[WouldBe]

See e.g thalidomide; GPs can only act on guidance. If that guidance is wrong, the GP is not at fault.

True if side effects aren't known about but if they are and the GP still prescribed then it's clearly the gp's fault FFS.

Who's fault is it if someone decides to take more than the prescribed amount and ends up with problems?

 

[nottsgirl]

True if side effects aren't known about but if they are and the GP still prescribed then it's clearly the gp's fault FFS.

Who's fault is it if someone decides to take more than the prescribed amount and ends up with problems?

I’m not sure why this is the hill you’ve chose to die on.

 

[girasol]

Lol, I always thought the 5:2 diet was "eat a sensible amount of calories 5 days a week then eat what you like for the other two days?" I mean, I think most people do this naturally anyway. Have some treats at the weekend sort of thing and then just eat sensibly the rest of the time? So in my mind I was doing this diet without even trying

But nope - you're supposed to barely east for 2 days a week? Fuck that! I like my version better... It's also more fun & sustainable.