Life expectancy now shorter than it was.

[OperationMalena]

From The Guardian, "Life expectancy at retirement now is two years shorter than it was when they did the last review".

So, they aren't increasing the state pension age to 68 YET because our average national life expectancy has decreased. This, plus apparently middle-aged people are fed up and it is a vote loser.

But hey, life expectancy in this country has declined. Our government(s) must be so proud. I mean WTF? How difficult can it be to find decent people in this country to run the place?

If this carries on, maybe they need to bring in retirement earlier.

Yep, this.

This…..but this is the reason ive upped my alcohol and cigarettes! Ive got no desire to live to a “decent age” in this country

Recent articles on elderly put on end of life care show these nurses do really exist
One man ( yesterdays news ) went to hospital with fluid on his ankles, was put on end of life care. They took away his heart meds, food and fluid. Family insisted on autopsy….basically he starved to death.
Abuse of the end of life care policy. Now under investigation

Until I had to start working I was super fit, super healthy (have been all my life aside from allergies) ate food cooked from scratch, slept OK, had plenty of fresh air, not stressed.

Driving a car will not kill me quicker, not riding a bloody bike won't take years off my life, but stress and exhaustion will.

It's all very well making snide comments about individuals poor choices, but choices are not as free for some. Given a choice the Tory scum would fuck off, I'd work part time again in something less stressful, or not at all and find time to invest in self care and my own wellbeing. And I'm sure I'm not alone.

@MiniTheMinx

you were healthy until I started working

how old were you when you started working?

Surely people have always worked, it's hardly a new thing??

I don't mean to sound like a certain health minister but these are all very nice things if cooked properly. I think corned beef would be on the dodgy list because of the preservatives though.

Btw - people think food and veg in the UK is expensive? 😂

The question is what is the cause of the poor lifestyle choices and to what extent are they choices.

The shocking thing about the UK is the huge variation in life expectancy by area. For example healthy life expectancy is just 55 years in Blackpool compared to 71 in Richmond. This is linked to poverty, the difference in life expectancy between deprived and non deprived areas is 19 years.

This gap is growing, life expectancy is still going up for those in more affluent areas but down in the poorest.

So many of you are saying why can't the poorest make healthy choices, do more cycling, eat healthy food. I don't think people realise unless they have been poor how difficult it is to make healthy choices. It is actually 3 x more expensive to get energy from healthy foods. There is a strong link between cold damp housing and ill health and poverty makes it so much harder to think long term and invest in future health.

https://www.health.org.uk/publications/long-reads/living-in-poverty-was-bad-for-your-health-long-before-COVID-19

Some people think that eating the 'right food' and exercising is the answer to everything.
I have an under-active thyroid and a woman I used to work with was convinced it was possible to control it with diet and I just wasn't eating the right stuff.

@Wheretheskyisblue

The shocking thing about the UK is the huge variation in life expectancy by area. For example healthy life expectancy is just 55 years in Blackpool compared to 71 in Richmond. This is linked to poverty, the difference in life expectancy between deprived and non deprived areas is 19 years.

Does poverty cause it though? Or is it poor education that causes BOTH poverty AND poor lifestyle choices.

Of course some people have genuine health conditions. The vast majority don't.

@beguilingeyes eyes

i have an under active thyroid. Been on 100mg levo for 6 years

I am slightly underweight, run 4x a week and yoga / strength training 2x a week

If you are on the correct dose of levo, there really is no excuse reason

It’s the same worn pregnancy

there’s a substantial contingent of women that harp on about how fabulous their figure and metabolism and fitness was pre pregnancy but then 🤷‍♀️ pregnancy screwed everything up from then on.

Bull. Shit

Same. My best friend was very healthy, not overweight, exercised, drank very little and didn't smoke then got a god awful rare disease and passed away a couple of months ago. She was 54. I'm devastated.

However I'm not so healthy and her dying has made me take a good look at myself.

There is that term 'Sniper Alley' which is used to refer to that period of life, pretty much the 50s, when cancer or other illnesses might strike, and if you make it through that unscathed you have a good chance of living into your seventies and eighties.

I congratulated my sister when she reached 60 recently in making it through 😂

Poverty directly causes this. Social stress upregulates the adrenal axis, which is toxic if it continues unremittingly.

I wasn't saying that it's a problem for me, just that not everything can be completely controlled by diet. Without thyroxine I'd be in trouble.

No

but no one was saying everything

A lot can be though be managed by a healthy diet and exercise / movement

Living on expensive takeaways, smoking, taking drugs, obesity?

watching factual programmes last night was shocked by the fatness of the teenage kids shown

Yes my dh for one.

he was 50 never smoked rarely drank, ate healthily and was fit.. think hiking 35 miles at a time and mountain climbing .

still didn’t stop him dying from colon cancer

i suspect that it was working decades in a chemical factory with a poor safety record that contributed to his death plus fuck ups with his healthcare during the pandemic.