To think the NHS should not be cutting funding for Anorexia and EDs if they are going to be spending ££££ on weight loss jabs

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Anorexia and ED numbers are soaring. My daughter has battled the disease for 6 years. It kills far quicker than obesity and the sooner it is treated the better the outcome. During the last few years I have witnessed so many parents fighting for treatment and now in some severe cases patients are just being given palliative care.

Most areas are now planning cuts to specialist eating disorder services.

The fact we apparantly have ££££ to spend on weight loss jabs when children and young people are essentially being left to die is not ok and highlights a quick fix medicated approach by the NHS as opposed to longer term MH provision.

Anorexia is cool again now. They're injecting people with medication that severely lowers their appetite to enable them to emulate the very low calorie consumption of anorexics... and it's perfectly acceptable.

I also have anorexia. I went through treatment, weight restoration, recovery and now feel entirely ripped off. I never wanted to eat more. I never wanted to regain weight. I thought I had to because it was apparently unhealthy to eat so little - even when I wasn't underweight, they'd make me eat more.

Turns out it's all lies and perfectly fine to eat so little in the pursuit of thin.

At least I can do what I want now. Of anyone asks about my weightloss, I'll just say it's ozempic and that will make it A-OK.

I'm older now so not losing weight as fast, is my only complaint. They should have just let me be before. I don't understand why they'd pretend low calorie consumption is harmful if it's not.

How are you connecting the two things at all?
Funding for EDs is an entirely separate issue to funding for WLIs.
Not to mention the NHS is only funding WLIs for people who are at risk of severe illness or death due to their obesity.

Anorexia and weightloss drugs are two completely separate issues. I am not a fan of mental health budget cuts in any case but bringing mountjaro into the conversation just completely distracts from the real issue.
It costs £122 per patient per week to prescribe mountjaro. This money is inconsequential when we compare it to the costs of a day on a specialist ward which runs into thousands.

The two aren’t connected though (except for a very very small minority who buy weight loss drugs wrongfully to aid their disorder)

(edited- not sure why I wrote majority - I need coffee)

highlights a quick fix medicated approach by the NHS as opposed to longer term MH provision.

Well yes that's exactly what it is. Obese people cost the NHS more because of their co-morbidities, so it's in the government's financial interests to deal with those people's obesity. It's not that obese people are valued more than mentally ill people, it's that they cost more overall so treating them saves money overall.

Aren’t obese people mentally ill too? I thought obesity was an eating disorder. Anorexia and other EDs cost the nhs ££££. Paediatric wards are full of young people with EDs, often weeks at a time needing multiple members of staff as there are often no specialist beds anywhere.

All Anorexia patients are at serious risk of death, no extra funding for them, just cuts and a worse outcome. How is that fair?

You say It yourself.

It kills far quicker than obesity and the sooner it is treated the better the outcome.

So obesity is an issue for many years before it kills. It creates a whole host of health problems.

Anorexia on the other hand is more acute. Obesity is effectively chronic.

You mention the costs of anorexia, but they pale into insignificance compared to the associated costs of obesity - the costs of obesity are less obvious:

Obesity costs the NHS in England around £6.5 billion each year, according to NHS England. This figure is expected to increase over time.

Obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer.
It's associated with life-limiting conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers.
Obese patients cost the NHS twice as much as those with healthy weight.

It comes down to costs. Spending £££ on weight loss drugs actually pays for itself. And that will be part of NICEs cost analysis.

Anorexia on the other hand doesn't have this quick fix and affects less people. Plus the majority of those people are women so who cares about them?

It's all about £££. But not in the way you think.

The sooner it is treated the better the outcome and the less money spent and less drain on paediatric wards and other services.

We’re talking years of multiple stays on paed wards, sometimes HD, then impatient and then multiple services involved alongside. The cost is huge.

Cutting services and not treating Anorexia is basically signing a death warrant for young people.

Where as previous poster stated people prescribed the jab costing £122 a week will be treating themselves at home. It's apples and oranges, you can't compare the two.

I can jolly well query the funding. Some of that money should be going towards ED services and the treatment of Anorexia.

Obesity is a physical disease. It may have an aetiology that is in part physiological but no it's not an eating disorder. Not all obese people have binge eating disorder.

I'm sorry that this is clearly personal to you but they aren't cutting anorexia funding to fund WLI. That's not how it works.

The costs and pressures of anorexia pale into insignificance compared to those associated with obesity. So, the latter is seen as more crucial for finding.

It is all about the money, the Exchequer. Not the “value” of the disease or the patient, I guess.

I am really sorry for what your daughter has been through OP.

I hope you're okay ❤

I thought people had to pay for weight loss injections themselves.

I’m aware of that however funding is under so much pressure services are being cut across the country. Less should be going towards weight loss jabs and towards other services as opposed to cuts.

And if obesity isn’t an eating disorder shouldn’t patients be taking more responsibility for it.

obesity is a big killer though surely, now causes more deaths than smoking according to this link Obesity 'bigger killer' than smoking in England and Scotland - BBC News

A small number of people are able to access them on the NHS. The only person I know of has arthritis, a recent hip replacement (on the NHS), a lung condition, a heart condition and a BMI of over 45. She is also approaching 60. Patients like her will cost the NHS millions before they die (prematurely). Spending cash on injections to get her weight down is a very good investment.

It’s not ok. These are children as young as 12 in some cases that we’re talking about. It’s outrageous that services need to be cut for such children and young people whereas apparently we have ££££ for weight loss jabs that just get handed to people as a quick fix. Families are battling to save the lives of their children.

So why can’t they be forced to contribute towards the cost?

There are so many mental health issues - AN included - which if treated immediately can be effectively ‘nipped in the bud’ before they go on to develop into a much more complex issue. That the government can’t see this and make appropriate provisions is scandalous, It would be SO MUCH CHEAPER for them to do so, but that’s spending money up front. Why do that when you can kick the can down the road?

Again, not how funding works.
obesity is a disease. Not an eating disorder. Diseases are treatable, and rarely possible to treat by yourself. People who qualify for WLI on the NHS are extremely sick.

You're getting unpleasant now

No I’m not. Why can’t it be a split cost with the money saved from that put towards ED services which are being cut?