After a ZPB Christmas party that involved a speed boat trip down the Thames, cocktails in the Shard bar and of course nine charming and good looking people, it seems that our ability to comment on the recent medical research surrounding James Bond is more than justified.
Drinking alcohol and watching James Bond films go hand in hand for many at Christmas. Yet recent research that totted up his alcohol consumption across all 14 original Bond novels undertaken by Nottingham-based doctors and published in the festive edition of the British Medical Journal concluded: “We would advise Bond to be referred for further assessment of his alcohol intake”.
The researchers concluded: “The level of functioning as displayed in the books is inconsistent with the physical, mental, and indeed sexual functioning expected from someone drinking this much alcohol.”
Bond’s reckless “Drink and Let Drive” habit is evidenced in Casino Royale, as he consumes 39 units before getting into his silver Aston Martin and then crashing it at high speed. Furthermore, the report also notes that on his biggest binge-drinking bender, Bond consumes 50 units in a single day in ‘From Russia With Love’ and throughout all the novels he totalled only 13 days alcohol free. Although considered by some to be ageless, Bond may in fact be one of the middle-aged cohort of patients with alcohol problems who are causing considerable use of NHS services, as highlighted in the Dr Foster Hospital Guide earlier this month.