`The devil's juice'

I was speaking this week to some members of a business networking group with which I'm involved. I told them my story, talked about how I put my stroke down to work stress and how I now tell friends and former colleagues about the dangers of thinking that there are 28 hours in a day and that most of them should be spent working.

As usually happens, my audience nodded sagely and wrote down key points about what I was saying. And I've no doubt that, as usually happens, everyone forgot what I'd said within ten minutes of leaving the meeting. Working stupid hours and piling on the pressure often comes with the territory in the world of work, especially for the self-employed; fighting against it can often cause problems with employers or, in the case of the business-owner, the customers from whom you make a living.

But there had been a story in the news that morning which gave me another angle of attack - one which I'm sure my audience of parents and grandparents, aunties and uncles hadn't really thought about and which really did cause them to ponder.

I'm talking about the dangers of energy drinks - beloved by so many young people yet incredibly dangerous as a risk factor in causing strokes. The high amounts of caffeine in these drinks mean they can raise the blood pressure to absurd levels very quickly, thus making a stroke much more likely.

One of my very best friends in the strokie world, who had her stroke when she was 14, attributes it entirely to the amount of energy drinks she was consuming at the time. Understandably, she is passionate about making her school and college friends and other young people aware of the risks. In fact, she used the words 'the devil's juice' about energy drinks in a discussion about this story on one of the stroke-survivor websites I use. I wouldn't disagree.

I know many schools now ban energy drinks from the premises but that doesn't stop young people from having them elsewhere (and others, of course - I know successful businessmen who used to exist almost solely on a diet of energy drinks).

My audience at that talk left ready to tell their children, nephews, nieces etc about the risks of energy drinks and perhaps even stop them using them. And if one young person is able to escape a stroke as a result, I'll be happy.

•YOU might recall that I discussed my writing difficulties in last week's post. I'm pleased to say that a solution has been found which will enable me to use my laptop in the exam, rather than have to struggle with pen and paper.