@dontdisturbmenow the idea that ONE condition and ire sufferers is to blame for the nhs being in crisis is utterly ridiculous!
Your post also shows you have very little knowledge about the condition too. I am presuming you are meaning type 2 diabetes?
Lifestyle is just ONE factor in people developing the condition. And actually recent research is starting to recognise that certain risk factors may actually be incorrect - it seems previous researchers into it may have been misled by the old correlation/causation issue.
I have in my family history on one side several relatives who developed type 2 diabetes in their 30’s and 40’s, all but one are slim, fit, healthy people and the one that isn’t slim is mainly overweight due to being on high amounts of steroids for another condition.
It’s beginning to look more and more like genetics are the main factor possibly with complicating metabolic disorders.
They are all women, who developed gestational diabetes, then post partum thyroiditis (often undx at the initial onset and only recognised in LONG Hindsight) and then hyperparathyroidism which in all but one case took many years to get dx.
I believe based on my family’s experience that there are links between women’s anatomy and body chemistry, how that affects the thyroid and parathyroid glands and type 2 diabetes. When I started noticing the pattern in my own family I started asking friends who I knew with type 2 dx particularly the slim, fit ones if they’d also had issues with their thyroid and the majority have and the problems started within 12 months after giving birth.
I genuinely believe this is a major area that is being ignored.
But even IF type 2 is really caused by unhealthy lifestyles it’s still ludicrous to think ONE condition is the cause of the crisis.
And even IF you blame lifestyle it really still isn’t as simple as “don’t be fat”! But that’s kind of a whole other thread!
Regarding age, ageing = deterioration of all bodily systems & organs that’s the very nature of ageing unfortunately. That of course includes the pancreas, thyroid, parathyroid, kidneys etc lots of us will get old, and those of us that do will be affected by whichever organs pack up on us in whatever order, depending not only on lifestyle but genes, environment..:
But old folk aren’t necessarily more vulnerable to diabetes than they are any other condition. Going on my grandparents, one grandad died due to long term effects of toxins on lungs he was exposed to while serving in wwii, other grandad it was his heart, one grandmother it was diabetes and thyroid issues eventually got too much and other grandmother had Alzheimer’s, ageing is a major factor for that but she’d also sustained a head injury as a young woman, again events in wwii which they now think such injuries can be a factor. So only 1 out of 4 even had diabetes!
Re “drop in the ocean” anyone who’s managed a tight budget knows every penny counts and that a saving is a saving no matter how small, it all contributes. But it’s cumulative, no 1 factor is to blame.
The waste and nonsensical policies need to be streamlined. But funding still needs to be at a reasonable level, none of it can be done for free!
It’s why people call for “the return of Matron”, they want someone with common sense, experience and authority to take charge, so away with any stupidity and get the job done!
I recall watching a show some years ago where a business guy went into hospitals as an objective but cost focused observer and straight away he was like “why are the operating theatres closed on Fridays?” It was because senior surgeons were off playing golf, feeling they’d earned the right to shorter weeks after working crazy hours as junior Drs, which while that may be an argument at the end of the day they were on full time salaries but not working full time and it’s insane that 3 days a week operating theatres full of very expensive equipment were/are lying unused, iirc he also found things like whole newly built wards unused because there wasn’t the staff to run them, perfectly usable expensive equipment being thrown away because newer versions were bought but they could still be used somewhere...
There are well known issues with corrupt practice in procurement.
I’ve similar to many posters witnessed staff watching tv when supposedly on duty, and no they weren’t completing paperwork while doing so, I’ve witnessed admin staff spending easily 30+ mins at a time blethering about boyfriends/holidays etc and ignoring ringing phones and queues of patients waiting to record their attendance for appointments, I myself have been one of those patients and on one occasion ended up being bollocked myself for being “late” for an appointment when actually I’d been 20 mins early but the receptionist was busy arguing with boyfriend on the phone! - which I was able to prove! Shouldn’t have needed to!
Such behaviour wouldn’t be accepted in a private professional environment so why it is remotely considered acceptable in the public sector I don’t know.
I’m also aware that it’s incredibly difficult to get rid of poor staff.
@randomchatter the issue with prescribing of meds that are available otc often very cheaply is that administrating and providing those prescriptions costs the nhs far more than it would cost a lay consumer to buy them otc. However, sometimes it is necessary, some patients especially in these times of austerity really don’t have 35p spare for paracetamol, some patients are living very rurally and it’s not just the cost of the item but transport to the shop can be prohibitive, some patients need high amounts of certain meds which it’s not possible to buy without a prescription due to safety regulations, eg paracetamol can only be bought a small amount at a time, some patients or their carers need to be able to “stock up” so they’re not leaving home more often... so it’s not always as simple as “buy it yourself” BUT I agree that those that CAN afford to, don’t need high amounts or to stock up etc need to buy such items themselves.
I’m in Scotland where prescriptions are free, for which I am massively grateful especially when I’m hearing of all the issues people in England on UC are having with no organisation put in place re prescription forms so people are ending up with huge fines because there’s no comprehensive agreement on which box claimants are meant to tick and claimants are unsure whether they’re eligible for free prescriptions or not it’s a mess!