Sir – From time to time, scientist and doctors at this and other universities come up with recommendations that we should (say) avoid eating pomegranates to lessen our chances of dying of malaria, or whatever it might be.

The fact is, however, that we are all going to die of something, and in this country most of us are going to die of quite a limited number of diseases, let’s say v, w, x, y, z. If giving up walnuts makes us less likely to die of y, it will only make us more likely to die of v, w, x, or z.

I do wonder, therefore, if a different approach might be a good idea. Nobody wants to give up their pleasures, and nobody wants to die unpleasantly, so perhaps the two should be carefully balanced together in consultation with a proper NHS doctor.

Could people choose which way they would prefer to die?

If they would much rather die of x than of other causes, there is little point really in giving up the pleasure which lead to x, in fact their lifestyle in old age could be tailored in that direction. Just a thought.

Roger Moreton, Oxford