Under the microscope

ACTRESS Rula Lenska, 69, answers our health quiz

DO YOU EXERCISE?

YES, I do a lot of brisk walking and a little bit of swimming.

GET YOUR FIVE A DAY?

I EAT a lot of vegetables but I’m careful with fruit because I have a problematic digestive system.

EVER DIETED?

I’M 5 ft 8 in and I’ve weighed between nine and nine-and-a-half stone all my adult life. I never overeat, but I don’t think anything should be forbidden unless you’re allergic or intolerant to it.

ANY VICES?

CHIPS, ideally out of a paper bag with vinegar. I’m on and off with smoking; I do well and then some emotional hiccup happens, I’ll have one and it’s hard to give it up for a month or so.

ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?

MY MOTHER was in a concentration camp and was malnourished for twoand-a-half years. I think I’ve inherited my digestive issues from her.

WORST ILLNESS OR INJURY?

A PROBLEMATIC neck due to scoliosis (a twisted spine). If I’m sitting next to someone, I have to turn my body or my neck muscles go into spasm.

POP ANY PILLS?

I TAKE vitamin C, zinc and echinacea in the winter to help fight off colds, and magnesium and calcium for the bones.

EVER HAVE PLASTIC SURGERY?

WHEN I look in the mirror I think it would be nice to have a lift on the lower jaw to get rid of the beginnings of jowls, but my inner-self says: ‘What is the point unless it’s necessary?’

COPE WELL WITH PAIN?

I CERTAINLY do. During a performance of Calendar Girls, I fell backstage and cracked a rib and tore my rotator cuff [a group of muscles and tendons in the shoulder], but I went straight back on stage. My rotator cuff was operated on and worked brilliantly for a few years, but has become detached once more and can’t be operated on again. I manage perfectly well.

IS SEX IMPORTANT?

NOT without feelings and love.

TRIED ALTERNATIVE REMEDIES?

I SEE an acupuncturist twice a month to help with my digestion, stiff neck, bad back and circulation.

EVER BEEN DEPRESSED?

LOSING my hearing in my mid-50s was depressing. I now wear hearing aids in both ears. I also felt very low during both my divorces. On my mother’s side of the family, there is manic depression. Touch wood, I don’t think I have that.

HANGOVER CURE?

THE hair of the dog.

BIGGEST PHOBIA?

HEIGHTS, and I’m not a good flier.

LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?

IF I WAS in good health and surrounded by people of the same sort of age, yes.

RULA LENSKA appears in A Celebrity Taste of Italy (Fridays, 9pm, on Channel 5)