Very sad. His podcast is my bedtime listen.
Be nice to think that due to the coverage of this a few people who haven't heard of him or listened to his programs or read his books and articles might become familiar with his message and make some small changes to make there own lives better and healthier. I expect his family will hear a lot from people who have already improved their own lives not just because of what he said but of how he said it.
Really really sad.
We're regular listeners of his output but unfortunately it seemed to be the outcome that was coming following over the last few days.
Great bloke. Such a tragedy.
Oh jeez, just seen the news. What a loss, thoughts are with his family - RIP Michael.
Very sad.
Always listened carefully to what he had to say.
RIP
I still remember his documentary 30 years ago about Barry Marshall discovering stomach ulcers were often/usually caused by a bacteria and hence were treatable with anti biotics.
Very sad news. Thoughts with his family and friends.
I never saw any of his documentaries/programs but I was aware of his output, a real shame given how health and fitness conscious he was. It just seems very odd and so out of character that he choose to walk in such heat with his medical knowledge.
It just seems very odd and so out of character that he choose to walk in such heat with his medical knowledge.
I would not be surprised if he had decided to use the opportunity to observe the effects of the heat on his body. He was known for using his body for experiments.
Obviously more will be known after the postmortem but it is now thought that he fell, so heat might not have been a direct cause of his death.
I heard that the PM stated only “natural causes”
That's very broad ranging isn't it? I think that just means nobody attacked him, he wasn't hit by a car etc. Presumably even a snake bite would fall under the boad auspices of "natural".
Obviously more will be known after the postmortem but it is now thought that he fell, so heat might not have been a direct cause of his death.
I think the press reports, which should be viewed with a big pinch of salt, suggest that now they knew where to look they could find him on CCTV and see his final moments. It wasn't a "fall" as in fall off a cliff, but exactly what you might expect if someone was totally heat exhausted. I don't know how rigorous PM's are in Greece for non-criminal dealths. I think those hoping for detailed answers may not get them, and certainly not quickly as they'll do toxicology and that will take weeks.
Yes I understood natural causes just ruled out anything sinister.
I always remember being with an uncle, a medical professor, we saw a chap running in the heat of the day, he said, that chaps doing himself more harm than good.
Lesson learned, another top tip, always start hydration the night before. Bad bit is the toilet visits in the night.
I remember being 19 and my moped broke down in Ibiza in the hot sun so I had to push it to the nearest phone box (police station it turned out) and I was exhausted and hospitalised. I could comfortably play several rounds of 7's rugby then. Only 3 hour's of exposure. Had no water.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/28418387/dr-michael-mosley-position-prevent-fainting/
It does seem that he died of heat exhaustion from the preliminary findings of the post mortem.
And several hours before he was reported missing by his wife.
Lesson learned, another top tip, always start hydration the night before.
Another lesson.. Never go rambling alone.. Especially in that heat.. (or indeed cold) A twisted ankle could easily be the end of you if you can't walk a mile to the closest house or whatever, it might aswell be a hundred miles.
Very sad.. I found his documentaries very interesting but it does seem like a schoolboy error.
My wife and I were talking about this yesterday and I could see she was getting quite upset. I found this strange as I'm the one that always listened to his podcast - she rarely did and anyway, tragic though it was we didn't know him...
Turned out that many times during our marriage I've done this type of thing - that was just what YOU would have done she said.. always wanting to walk home or cycle home or go exploring when we are somewhere strange in all sorts of conditions day or night. YOU would have died that day too...
Which to be fair is pretty true and there are a few instances over the years where things could have gone a bit wrong.
Weird really but then I guess men do this type of thing more than women in my experience. The sexes are different after all.
Weird really but then I guess men do this type of thing more than women in my experience. The sexes are different after all.
I think it is accepted that men take more risks than women. There is an evolutionary logic - if the man is the hunter gatherer then if he doesn't take calculated risks his genes are likely to survive. Woman on the other hand are less likely to see their genes/off springs survive if they take risks.
Never go rambling alone.. Especially in that heat.. (or indeed cold) A twisted ankle could easily be the end of you if you can’t walk a mile to the closest house or whatever, it might aswell be a hundred miles.
Stop right there.
Stop right there.
I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to cause offence. But equally, people have to take a bit of personal responsibility.
Does anyone remember that walking the Nile documentary where Matthew Power died of heatstroke? Just seemed like he was getting a bit tired and then he died, and he was a fit 39 year old. It was pretty shocking.
I still remember very well Dr Mosley deliberately swallowed a tapeworm egg for experiment. He had it for a month in his stomach! Since then I have been very careful with meat. Well, been double careful with meat.
Just seemed like he was getting a bit tired and then he died, and he was a fit 39 year old. It was pretty shocking.
I used to go fishing at 12 noon in Borneo as a teen and could stay directly under the sun for hours (34c average). But after leaving Borneo for many years, I went home and went fishing with my friend again under direct sunlight I felt unwell within an hour or so. Rather scary and even had cold sweat.
I wonder if the fact that Michael Mosley had only arrived the day before to the island in the midst of a heatwave contributed to him being overcome by the heat?
Does your body need to acclimatise?
Does your body need to acclimatise?
Yes, minimum 6 months to 3 years depending on your health.
Took me almost 3 years to acclimatise to British weather.
Does your body need to acclimatise?
Absloutley. Southern Spain has had record heat temps year upon year for the last few years. It's the same reason olive harvests are failing and why good quality olive oil is now crazy expensive.
I appreciate it's an Island he died on, rather than mainland spain, but it proper bakes in Jun-Jul-Aug, it's not even funny, it's dangerous.
This all feels a bit grotesque.
I have always half assumed that the need to acclimatise to heat was more psychological rather than physiological.
I am not sure what physical changes might occur in your body that would take several days, other than maybe something to do with your blood.
But having checked it does seem that 1-2 weeks are required for your body to physically adjust.
So if Michael Mosley had arrived from the UK a couple of days before then I guess it is reasonable to suppose that it might have been a contributory factor.
I have always half assumed that the need to acclimatise to heat was more psychological rather than physiological.
It's both.. but you still need water and if you break your leg and there's no one around, you'll be dead..
I don't think people are appreciating how hot it can get... I don't even go outdoors this time of year for more than a few hours at at a time to go from one place to another...it's not hill walking temps.
It typically takes 2+ weeks of training while taking on plenty of fluids, to get cycling stats on the turbo similar to outdoors, as acclimatisation takes place after not doing threshold efforts indoors for more than a few weeks.
Acclimatisation works to a point, but there are definitely limits. Mid-thirties and humidity is horrendous.
Locally i've known of a couple of deaths of people - one a fit pilot guy in his early 30s on a dirt bike ride. Another was a roadworker.
I read this a while back about the Nepalese that go to work in the Middle East: ‘Going abroad cost me my health’: Nepal’s migrant workers coming home with chronic kidney disease | Global development | The Guardian
I also met a researcher through work that did his PhD on exercise in extreme climatic environments and was now doing studies on Bangladeshi (?) textile factory conditions - the sweat shops really are dangerous for this, and as conditions have been getting hotter people are at greater risk.
I'm sure there's someone on here that does research into this stuff in relation to exercise, too... he shared a survey on caffeine use in sport a couple of years ago.
But yes. Mosley would definitely have known the risks of extreme heat.
Can we maybe just keeo this to paying respects rather than speculations and tasteless comments. Ta
I have always half assumed that the need to acclimatise to heat was more psychological rather than physiological.
There are definitely physiological changes, too - blood density changes, sweat rates and so on. From all I've read it takes about 2 weeks of exercising to adjust. That seems to match up to personal experience, as the heat here tends to rocket up mid-June (so sometime next week, probably) and the first week or so is pretty grim. That said, experience is definitely a factor, too, and of course running locally I know what clothes to wear, where there's likely to be water, the amount of shade etc.
Full disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, just a runner that needs to take this into account every year.
Hyperthermia is the scary big brother of hypothermia. Generally speaking, by the time you realise you are ill, you are very far down the path and things get bad very quickly. Much harder to reverse than hypothermia and risk profile much worse.
Bit of a thread resurrection, but just got this link via email, it's all about heat acclimatisation (and not just applicable to ultrarunners):
https://trainright.com/ultrarunners-heat-acclimation-cheat-sheet
I found this interesting
Especially this which I hadn't really considered:
The human body has two main ways to lose the heat generated by the body or gained from the environment.
First, the body attempts to lose heat to the surrounding environment by pumping warm blood to the skin surface. However, when air temperatures are higher than skin temperature (around 35°C), this method becomes ineffective. Instead, the body starts gaining heat from its surroundings.
Second, the body can produce sweat, which has a cooling effect when it evaporates. However, in humid conditions, the sweat on our skin evaporates less readily, as the air already contains plenty of moisture.
35°C really isn't that warm imo but apparently already your body will be struggling potentially quite seriously.
Also scary is how quickly things can escalate and once the threshold has been crossed and heat stroke has developed how most (58%) won't survive beyond a month.
I have always coped reasonably well in high temperatures, I certainly wasn't aware of how both quick and serious things can develop beyond the point of no return.
It is ironic that even in death Michael Mosley still has the ability to educate people on health issues and how to take care of themself, something which I have no doubt he would approve of. RIP
In my mid 20's - fit/lean, working on an engineering job in Turkey, I had a daytime nap in summer heatwave sun. I woke up in a pool of unbeknownst liquid, few hours later it really hit me and I crawled into bed back at my hotel. I was so rough/weak I had to ring my contacts at the factory for help who got me into hospital and on a IV drip. I was absolutely wiped out.
I did the london to Brighton ages ago with 2 others, 1 chap was fair skinned, it wasn't even hot I d say warm, c20s. He wasn't hydrating though but pretty fit. We all finished but he started mumbling rubbish on the train back. We took him to a n e, he was put on a drip and kept under observation overnight.
I m in Spain, its 31 today, its like a wall of heat stepping outside the door. At 40 it's oppressive.
For those who were aware that an American had also gone missing on a Greek island after setting off in the heatwave last Tuesday he body was found today.
That makes three missing tourists who had gone for walks in the heatwave found dead in a week.
