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HEALTH

Merkel blames dehydration for trembling spell

German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed concerns about her health after visibly trembling at an official ceremony Tuesday, saying she was just a bit dehydrated in the heat.

Published: 18 June 2019 14:57 CEST
Merkel blames dehydration for trembling spell
Angela Merkel and Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin. Photo: DPA

Merkel appeared unsteady and was shaking as she stood in the midday sun next to visiting Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, whom she was welcoming to her office building with military honours.

Asked by reporter about her wellbeing at a news conference about 90 minutes later, Merkel smiled: “I've drunk at least three glasses of water and so I'm doing fine.”

Zelensky, 41, made light of Merkel's uneasy spell, joking that he would have come to her rescue if necessary. 

“She was standing next to me and completely safe,” he said.

READ ALSO: Can you guess what happened to Angela Merkel?

Merkel, frequently called the European Union's most influential leader and the most powerful woman in the world, turns 65 next month.

She has said she will leave politics at the end of her current term, in 2021.

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HEALTH

Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Danish stores sold a significantly lower quantity of alcohol and cigarettes over the counter last year, new data from Statistics Denmark show.

Published: 14 June 2024 07:42 CEST
Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Some 3,852 cigarettes were sold year, which amounts to 804 per person over the age of 18. But that compares to a figures of 854 per person on 2022.

Cigarette sales in Denmark have been declining since 2018.

Sales of sprits, beer and wine fell by 7.8 percent, 5.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Danish business sold the equivalent of 44.4 million litres of pure alcohol, which works out at 11.9 units per week on average for each person over the age of 18.

Although that is a lower value than in 2022, it still exceeds the amount recommended by the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen).

The Health Authority recommends that adults over 18 drink no more than 10 units per week and no more than four in a single day.

READ ALSO: Should Denmark raise the minimum age for buying alcohol?

“The numbers are still too high and it’s an average that could have a skewed distribution,” University of Southern Denmark professor, Janne Tholstrup, said in relation to the alcohol sales figures. Tholstrup has published research on Denmark’s alcohol culture.

That is in spite of a 30-year-trend of falling alcohol consumption, according to the professor.

“The majority of Danes stay under the recommended 10 unite per week. That means there is a large group with a persistently excessive consumption of alcohol,” she said.

The Statistics Denmark figures also show that sales of loose tobacco – such as the type used in roll-up cigarettes and pipes – also fell last year. Some 58 tonnes less were sold compared to 2022.

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