Obese People Denied Healthcare

[Tony U]

"BTW I would like to encourage all of you to take part in more sport and physical activity, and if you can cut out the fags at half time, so much the better. See you all in casualty"

Sportsman

Thats why I go Morris dancing all that healthy exercise followed up with five or six pints in the pub! (actually I have cut that right back because of the gout).

[DavyR]

Thats why I go Morris dancing all that healthy exercise followed up with five or six pints in the pub! (actually I have cut that right back because of the gout).

 

Tony, that's just plain irresponsible - Morris dancing is a very dangerous activity, despite what this researcher thinks:

 

British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol 23, Issue 3 155-160, Copyright © 1989 by British Association of Sport and Medicine

 

The nature and incidence of injuries in morris dancers

AR Tuffery

Department of Physiology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

 

Morris dancing includes several distinct forms of vigorous traditional dance with about 5000 amateur participants in the UK and Ireland. Questionnaires were sent to over 500 registered morris sides. The response rate was 29 per cent with 129 acute injuries and 47 chronic injuries including one fatality. The commonest acute injuries were to ankle (33 per cent) and calf (22 per cent). The back was the commonest site of chronic injury, with a high contribution from occupational and other sources. Morris dancing is a relatively low-risk activity, but injuries could be prevented by improving the fitness of dancers and selecting safer surfaces to dance on. The severity of injuries could probably be reduced by seeking more and better treatment.

 

Was that "gout" or "gut", btw?

 

[Tony U]

Tony, that's just plain irresponsible - Morris dancing is a very dangerous activity, despite what this researcher thinks:

 

British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol 23, Issue 3 155-160, Copyright © 1989 by British Association of Sport and Medicine

 

The nature and incidence of injuries in morris dancers

AR Tuffery

Department of Physiology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

 

Morris dancing includes several distinct forms of vigorous traditional dance with about 5000 amateur participants in the UK and Ireland. Questionnaires were sent to over 500 registered morris sides. The response rate was 29 per cent with 129 acute injuries and 47 chronic injuries including one fatality. The commonest acute injuries were to ankle (33 per cent) and calf (22 per cent). The back was the commonest site of chronic injury, with a high contribution from occupational and other sources. Morris dancing is a relatively low-risk activity, but injuries could be prevented by improving the fitness of dancers and selecting safer surfaces to dance on. The severity of injuries could probably be reduced by seeking more and better treatment.

 

Was that "gout" or "gut", btw?

 

Both

Actually the severity of the injuries would probably be reduced by dancing sober.

Edited November 24, 2005 by Tony U

[Colin Brett]

I seem to remember this NHS district ?? was overspent by several million £s and some bloke from a government depatment was interviewed about it. His words were something like "they know what they have to do, because they have had all the money they are going to get".

So I guess we intrepret that as, "they" are going to save money by cutting services??

 

I must admit to being a bit worried about singling out groups for not getting treatment as I move into the "older" catergory.

 

Colin

[Sportsman]

Colin I don't know if they are cutting services so much as trying to target them more effectively.

 

Tony, if you have gout you have my sympathy. I have it in my toe and the pain is unbelievable. It is an inherited condition, I inherited it from my grandfather. Alcohol doesn't cause it but excess alcohol may bring on an acute attack (to be avoided )

When I was first diagnosed the Dr said it was down to a life of Wine Women and Song, so I gave up singing!

 

I was intrigued to hear of the fatality from Morris Dancing, would love to hear how that happened - kicked to death by the Hobby Horse possibly?

[DavyR]

I must admit to being a bit worried about singling out groups for not getting treatment as I move into the "older" catergory.Colin

 

Not so many years ago, all sorts of treatments were denied to people because they were "too old". That quite rightly became politically unacceptable, but things have now swung (as ever) to the other extreme, with strenuous efforts being made to preserve the lives of people in their 90s, regardless of costs (human as well as financial).

 

Pendulums have a habit of swinging, and it wouldn't surprise me if the elderly didn't start to quietly slip down the priority list again. In some cases, it might actually be kinder to make people comfortable and let nature take its course than to go in for aggressive treatment in an individual whose life is clearly nearing its close.

 

I suppose it will be economic considerations that decide for us in the end, no matter what people want...

 

I was intrigued to hear of the fatality from Morris Dancing, would love to hear how that happened - kicked to death by the Hobby Horse possibly?

 

It's a while since I read the article, but I think it was a heart attack!

[Ken Davison South Wales]

With limited resources, treatment (*other* than emergency treatment, which will always be given promptly and without prejudice) has to be directed firstly to the patients in which it will do most good. Obese patients do not come at the top of this list (for the reasons I outlined in my previous post). Overweight patients will continue to receive the treatment they need for their diabetes, heart disease, etc., even though this has often been caused, at least in part, by obesity.

 

Obesity: Two people I know very well.

 

No1. Never engaged in any sport or keep fit activity apart from snooker. Eats what he likes and quantities No2 could not look at, visits local conservative club four or five times a week consuming 4 to 6 pints per visit.

 

He is built like a lathe not an ounce of fat on him infact perfect build for a new hip should he require one.

 

No2. During the cause ofhis life span has played, table tennis to county standard, was a scout and rover scout hiking was a keen activity, swam for school and county, boxed for club and county, cross country running, surfing, squash, badmington, golf and attended keep fit clubs on a regular basis. This is just a few of the excercise activities under taken. He does not drink on a regular basis number of pints this year less than twenty.

 

Eats moderately BUT is now two to three stone over weight and there fore would not qualify for a hip.

 

No1 is my brother, No2 is myself.

 

So they judge people by weight and ability to recover, makes my blood boil.

[DavyR]

So they judge people by weight and ability to recover, makes my blood boil.

 

I wondered how long it would be before the old "anecdotal evidence" example cropped up.

 

It's a sad fact of life that some people can eat what they like and not put on weight. Doesn't necessarily mean they're healthy though...

 

I don't dispute what you're saying, Ken, but in a situation where there is never going to be sufficient funding for the NHS to do everything for everyone, have you got any better ideas of how treatment should be rationed?

[Sportsman]

Ken

surely they would have to judge by your ability to recover.

What would be the point of doing surgery that you are not going to recover from?

I too have a brother who weighs 12st and no he doesn't deserve to either

[Ken Davison South Wales]

There is a saying about "Keeping ones own house in order" well it is about time goverments took this on board.

 

We are a small country trying to pretend we are a continent and it is not working.

 

When the rest of europe sat on their hands we joined the arms race to protect them, now we are subsidising their farming and other ill run businesses.

 

We lob millions here and millions there quite often to countries who would gladly wipe us of the face of the earth.

 

When will we wise up and put our own country in order, I am not talking party politics here, I like Chester blame all goverments.