Get Off The Sofa

For years I have watched people in their millions inflict more illness and suffering on themselves than any war has ever done. What is this biblical plague, this monstrosity of suffering? Self inflicted illness. The fat guy smoking a cigarette. The thin woman flayed raw by alcohol. The kid jamming another fat laden time bomb into its face. The millions and millions of couch potatoes who haven't done a minute's decent exercise since they passed puberty. And what happens to all these millions upon millions of people? Nothing for most of the time. But then it all changes. Sometimes suddenly - a heart attack, a stroke, cancer. Life changing, irrevocable events that stuff their lives and the lives of everyone around them. Or not so suddenly - the slow suffocation of emphysema, the long autumn of health-related unemployment, the desperate loneliness of congestive cardiac failure. And that doesn`t half wreck the lives of everyone around them. Is it preventable? Not all of it, no. Some diseases just happen even with the best will in the world. But is most of it preventable? Yes, absolutely yes. If you don't like plain English don't read it. If you aren't prepared to apply it to yourself and take responsibility for your own health, don't read it. It isn't a book full of references and science. It's just a book about being healthy!

Dr Andrew Curran is a practising paediatric neurologist and neurobiologist who is also committed to using his extraordinary knowledge of the workings of the human brain to make a difference in the educational experience of all young people. He has been involved with Manchester University's Department of Education, developing research ideas looking at the use of emotional literacy in our classrooms. More recently he has conducted work exploring the processing of reward in the human brain. He believes passionately in the importance of understanding the individual, connecting with them emotionally and leading them into self directed learning. His book, the Little Book of Big Stuff about the Brain (published by Crown House Publishing) is recognised as one of the leading books about understanding brain based learning and the importance of emotional literacy in our classrooms and in our lives. His latest book, Get Off the Sofa is a general health book aimed at anyone from 5 - 85 who wants to understand their health more. He is a talented and internationally recognised presenter both to live audiences and on television where he was a main presenter on BBC3's Make My Body Younger. He is an associate of Independent Thinking Ltd.