Recently in health Category

Amidst all the prep for Christmas, worrying about buying this, cooking that, a dose of reality hit me, while chilling with the family the other night - the ticker tape running across the bottom of the screen on Sky News - actress Brittany Murphy has died.

But hold on a minute, I pondered, she's just 32. Yes, 32 and she's been taken out by what seems like cardiac arrest.

This year's been littered with unexpected celebrity tragedies - the sudden deaths of Natasha Richardson, Jade Goody, original Charlie's Angel Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, 33 year old Stephen Gately and the biggest story of them all, the passing of Michael Jackson. Now we have a tragic post-script to 2009 - Brittany Murphy reaching the end of her days.

This puts all of our Christmas carry-on in to perspective - none of us are promised tomorrow and therefore we need to regard everyday as Christmas Day in which we hold dear the virtues of love, peace, family, health and faith.

None of us know what the future holds, but in God we can get to know someone who holds the future.

Can I encourage you, if you haven't already, to consider developing faith in God? He's with us at all times, so talk to Him, tell Him how you feel about 'stuff' whether you believe or not. If you truly expect answers, you'll get them.

You regulars will know that I'm a Christian but I'm not necessarily advocating Christianity. Shocked?! Well don't be, I know from personal experience, when you reach out to God, you'll find Him and He'll guide you into all truth, as the Bible says.

The Christmas season is a time to enjoy and celebrate, but so is every other day of the year. None of know how much time we have left, now matter how young, healthy, successful, ambitious, etc, we are.

In our time of celebration, and believe me, I'm going to celebrate, spare a thought for the lives we are living and our readiness for the one after death.

Thanks for your support throughout 2009 and I wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy healthy New Year,

Veron x

I am privileged in my work to hear and learn from other peoples' stories. I discovered two common threads while writing a series of health articles for a national newspaper a few years back. One was that Black folks, in the UK and the US, are routinely denied access to health care on the level afforded to White people.

Disgraceful? Yes. Surprising? In truth, no. But what was surprising was the failure of too many Black people to take care of their health and seek medical counsel when they suspect something may be wrong. This message hit me even harder when I heard the same concern from a former work colleague, who had just been diagnosed with cancer.

Soon after, this thread ran through another interview with a woman whose father died from prostate cancer after years of abusing his body with a poor diet. However after the diagnosis, he switched to a healthier diet (80% fruit and vegetables, with small amounts of meat and dairy) and survived for 3½ years - the doctors gave him 18 months.

Whatever our ethnicity, gender or age, sickness cannot always be avoided. Wouldn't it be great to say if we all have a balanced diet, sufficient of exercise and plenty of rest, we could all guarantee a long, healthy life? Sadly that isn't the case, but why don't we do all we can to avoid illness and trust God to do the rest?

Celebrity tough guy Mr T won a six-year battle with skin cancer in 2001 because he did not shy away from treatment. Another actor Bill Bixby - who played the David Banner on 'The Incredible Hulk' TV series (I'm showing my age now!) took months to seek medical advice about the pain in his side. It was cancer and by the time he did, it had spread across his back and was inoperable.

So when it comes to taking care of yourself, you know what to do.

Now, why not share some of your health-related experiences and thoughts?

I've never been one for reading celebrity autobiographies but I've always had a soft spot for big Frank Bruno, having supported him ever since he appeared on the boxing horizon when I was just 9 years old! So when I came across his 2006 book 'Fighting Back' in a Salvation Army charity shop a few weeks ago, I paid my money and took my chance. I must say it was the best £1.95 I've spent in a long time!

Written with great honesty and clarity, the book begins with his 2003 sectioning after he went through psychiatric problems and then rewinds all the way back to his humble beginnings in south London. It takes in his relationship with his late father, run-ins with authority that prompted his move to boarding school, all the big fights, injuries, drug abuse and even his courtship, marriage and break-up with ex-wife Laura.

It couldn't have been easy for him to go into such detail, particularly that he risked opening himself up to ridicule. In taking the chance Frank has allowed me, like many others in the Sunday Times best-selling book to understand that the challenges of life come to all of us regardless of our fame or the state of our bank balance.

In my teens and early twenties, I harboured dreams of following Frank into the professional ring, until the media bug bit me. Still, now he's set me another challenge - to be able to write with such honesty and self-effacing humour in a way that sheds light into the corners of life many don't understand.

Big Up Big Frank!

Which celebrity tell-all books have you read? Did they disappoint or impress?

By the way, when you have a moment, check out our website, www.GMAgency.co.uk and tell me what you think.