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

[B00kThi3f]

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.

But why specifically is the obese group that you are aiming your discontent at? Why not any other group of medical patients?

I think we all know the answer, and your comment about obese people taking responsibility for their condition was a dead giveaway. Are you aware that many people would say the same about anorexic people? That they should just take responsibility for their choices? You would (rightly) claim that's ignorance, and yet you are doing the same.

Anorexia treatment should be funded. Obesity treatment should be funded. Let's not apply morals to medicine. It's a slippery slope.

It's not the government making decisions at this level, it's the regional Integrated Care Boards.

@HowardTJMoon ok then direct the anger there

im in Scotland- these things are all given different names.

It’s awful to say it, but it’s about cost. People with anorexia will either get better or they will die. Obese people will require more and more treatment at ever increasing cost, including specialist beds, hoists, even widening doors. NHS Trusts are so low on funds they have to focus on the things that will save them the most money, and that’s obesity.

I think we can tell why.

This is just another ‘fat people are disgusting’ thread. I hope OP’s daughter isn’t hearing that message. It’s no more morally weak to comfort eat than to self harm.

This is dangerous.

My friend with a history of ED lied on the prescription and got the injections and now has severe kidney problems. She keeps collapsing with the pain
I can't believe they just give them to everyone, didn't they forsee this?
They are so good for people who need them as the risks of being obese outweigh anything else but they should be a very short term thing and only for those with a lot of weight to lose.

My figures are fair. These are the percentages of people in the UK with these conditions/disorders/diseases. So to be fair that is the percentage of spending that should go to each group.

@Agix 1200 - 1500kcals a day is not under eating.

But families contribute to caring for people with all sorts of illnesses, that isn't exclusive to anorexia. I was asking if you would want to pay towards the cost of treatment in the same way that you're advocating other groups should pay.

To be clear, I don't want the NHS to start charging anyone for treatment. I just don't think you're going to win the argument for better treatment for EDs by insisting that the NHS should reduce its support for people with other conditions.

If you believe that better early interventions would save the NHS money in the longer term, then make that the focus of your campaign. Not demanding that someone else should lose out in order to favour your preferred cause.

I have nothing but sympathy for you and I am sorry that the treatment your daughter needs isn't available. And I can completely understand why you feel like it's just sentencing people to death. When budget cuts are made, it's heartbreaking for those affected.

The problem isn't funding weight loss jabs though, as PP have said, a huge amount of those on WLI are funding themselves because the NHS budget for them is miniscule in comparison for the need for them. Obesity is a huge issue that puts huge consequences on the NHS. So with some up front investment, it will bring longer term savings as well as healthier tax payers! So it's easy to see why WLIs are a good investment.

I don't know what the answer is, no disease should have its funding cut. But someone has to make difficult decisions because sadly, the budget just isn't there. I don't think there is an answer that everyone will be happy with. I am truly sorry that you and your daughter are impacted and you have a right to be angry.

The mistake you are making isn't just conflating two completely separate issues, but ignoring completely how efficient the treatments are.

Unfortunately there are no treatments for anorexia even a fraction as effective as the WLIs are for reducing obesity. You are talking as if £1000 spent on WLI will have the same impact on obesity as £1000 on eating disorders would. It is just not the case.

If you had the money to offer someone with an eating disorder two weeks in residential treatment, what is the actual success rate of that, more than 5-10% for one person having a degree of success? For the same money you could treat about 20 or more people who are severely at risk of dying from obesity and get really good results for them - results which save money in the long run.

There are other places you should be targeting your frustration, research into better ED treatments, campaigning to limit how porn is making teenage girls feel objectified, cosmetic treatments etc. Severely obese people getting help is not it.

While I agree with you that not enough money is spent on mental health, and particularly on anorexia nervosa which is life threatening, you're totally wrong about the relationship with funding for weight loss drugs.

These drugs are expensive in the short term, but in the long run they will save the country money. Obesity costs billions. Not only in healthcare costs, but also for social care and benefits due to people needing care or not being able to work because of complications of obesity.

Oh yes.

Wow. That is really disordered thinking. There is a difference between obese people getting to a healthy weight and the mental health condition a anorexia nerves which drives people to starve themselves to death.

Why can’t anorexia patients be forced to contribute to the cost of their treatment in the same way then?

Yes, yes, no.

The only one doing an activity accepted to be beneficial to health was the footballer. So fixing him encourages people to do sport as they’ll be treated if accidents happen.

The others were knowingly imbibing toxins.

No they shouldn't be a short term thing. The opposite actually.

You need to a step back and look at this objectively. You don't seem to have a grasp of the cost or implications of obesity or how NHS funding works. I'm sorry for what you're daughter and other sufferers are going through but it's not the fault of obese people

only a tiny fraction of people with obesity who have been made ill by it will get weight loss medication. Treatment is hard to access. Waiting lists for specialist weight management clinics are around two years. It’s hardly ‘moon on a stick’.

even if they do, that won't impact and make money for cuts made in other areas. The two are unconnected. Decisions made by different people for different reasons.

Your anger is directed at the wrong bunch of people

But they don't "just give them to everyone". There is a strict set of criteria you need to meet, specifically to avoid prescribing them to people such as your friend. Instead, your friend chose to repeatedly lie about her situation to get something she knew she shouldn't be getting.

Anorexia has the highest death rate of all mental illness.

Afaic disordered eating is a spectrum with anorexia/bulimia at one end and obesity at the other. Obesity is fuelled by addictive eating, binge eating and emotional eating, it’s not just about food ignorance and lack of exercise.

The two groups are connected. Both involve intake of food. Some obese patients apparantly do have eating disorders too. How is it fair that one group gets the moon on a stick whereas the other just get cuts. Particularly when outcome and saving lives hinges on early treatment.

The fact that they are related to food intake does not mean they are connected. They are entirely different, with different causes, different treatment, different outcomes. It is not a case of "the NHS has X amount to spend on food-related disorders but is giving it all to the obese people and leaving people with anorexia to die" like you seem to think it is.

It has been explained multiple times now. Obese children will cost the NHS more through their lives than a child with AN. In part, because the obesity won't kill them, but it will leave them with a host of other issues all which need to be treated long term until old age.

I understand that you're anxious and upset but tour anger is misplaced. WLI are not just some "quick fix". They are a valid treatment option and an investment by the NHS to reduce the amount of spend on obesity-related disease, meaning there will be more money for other things in the long run.

As you might gather from my name, I have a lot of experience with child (and now adult) mental health services for a child with ASD, ADHD & other comorbid conditions including anxiety. I know how stretched these services are. Many children are on long waiting lists for diagnosis and treatment/support. I still don't think that sick people should be denied NHS treatment for completely separate conditions.