Under the microscope

Margaret Thatcher’s former press secretary Sir Bernard Ingham, 87, answers our health quiz

CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS? I CAN’T, and fortunately I don’t have to because I live in a bungalow. I am not very fit though. I suffer from a serious shortage of breath, which I think is a legacy of my lifetime’s asthma. GET YOUR FIVE A DAY? YES. In the morning, I have prunes and bananas, fruit at lunchtime and salad in the evening. POP ANY PILLS? I LIVE a medicated existence. I take six pills in the morning and two at night — including warfarin to prevent blood clots and various pills to regulate my heartbeat.

EVER DIETED?

YES. At my peak I was 17 st (I am 5 ft 11 in, although I am shrinking). In 1967, my doctor told me to quit smoking and eating so much. I started a slimming regimen in January 1968 and got down to about 12 st 7 lb before 1970. But I easily put on weight and have had to watch it. I am now around 12 st and weigh myself daily.

ANY VICES?

NOT really. I don’t eat sweets and I haven’t had an alcoholic drink since 1993. I just felt better for it. Aren’t I boring? I gave up smoking in 1968. I smoked like a trooper for 11 years.

EVER HAVE PLASTIC SURGERY? NO. I will go to my grave as I started.

MOST SERIOUS ILLNESS?

DOUBLE pneumonia in 2014. I was in hospital for just over a week. As a child, I was covered in eczema. My mother got rid of door-to-door salesmen by taking me to the door all swathed in bandages and black ointment. I grew out of the eczema but not my allergic asthma. Horses are a lethal trigger, as are cats, some dogs, cattle and dust.

ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?

ONLY asthma. My son has it and my granddaughter. My mother had it severely. She died in her 60s. My father, a cotton weaver, died of overwork at 74.

COPE WELL WITH PAIN?

I HAVE wonky hips but I keep going.

HAD ANYTHING REMOVED?

YES. Damaged cartilage in my knee as a result of playing football. My right knee is not as straight as the other.

IS SEX IMPORTANT?

IF IT isn’t, then it is a poor outlook for the human race.

EVER BEEN DEPRESSED?

I DID suffer from a lack of confidence as a journalist in the early Sixties, but I didn’t really get depressed.

HANGOVER CURE?

IF THERE is one, I never found it. WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT? NOT much. I can sleep very well.

LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?

NOT unless I was enjoying myself — and I am, lost in wonder that I have made it this far. The Slow Downfall Of Margaret Thatcher: The Diaries Of Bernard Ingham by Bernard Ingham (Biteback Publishing) is out now.