• Replies 15 replies
  • Subscribers 29 subscribers
  • Views 125 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

The joys of ageing - or not! What are your experiences? What could we do differently?

Marianne72

As a result of visiting to my GP with a list of ailments [I save them up to have less appointments], I need yet another blood test, another appointment and an eye test. I was also diagnosed with arthritis in my thumb. PIty there isn't a book about ageing and how to prevent it or at least lessen its effects Rolling eyes. I am grateful for the NHS, because pills and eye drops I need would cost a fortune.

I wish the Government would focus on preventative measures, rather than giving medication or leaving mechanical problems until operations are necessary. For example, my free NHS exercise class holds many benefits -

  • chatting with people my age and older with similar difficulties
  • my arthritis pains reducing in intensity and frequency,
  • learning the proper exercises for different problem areas.
  • the incentive to continue the exercises at home

Similarly, I wish my former GP had informed me how to prevent diabetes 2 decades ago, instead of not giving information before its onset. If only there were exercise classes in care homes and for the over 70's, for example, this might trigger huge savings on pills, appointments and operations. Would you agree? What do you think might ease these issues? Do you think there is enough spent on researching ageing?

Parents

  • What could we do differently is a good question, and I suspect you asked rhetorically.  

    When we emigrated from the UK to Spain, many friends asked, 'What about health care?'  It turns out that health care here is just fine, better in many respects than the NHS in the UK, not perfect, for sure, as it is under-resourced as well.  Today I visited the GP, having made the appointment online on Tuesday afternoon (I could have had an appointment yesterday but was otherwise occupied), and we knocked off three issues in that visit, including me notifying him of my recent autism diagnosis.  Spain's medical system is run by the autonomous regions; Andalucia does spend a lot of time promoting 'wellness', especially for the 'oldies'.  However, demand outstrips supply, and the medics here feel undervalued and have just launched a nationwide strike!

    So, like the UK, there are issues for us in Spain, just different ones.  A year ago I was admitted for emergency surgery, which saved my life and for which I am only now getting back to almost full physical health.  So, like the UK's NHS, when the need is urgent, the system works, and I'm still here and very grateful to the men and women who worked so hard for me.  Getting an autism diagnosis from the health service proved impossible though, and I paid to get it done with the private sector.

    There are many documented examples of health education having positive outcomes across populations around the world, yet the British seem unable to learn from 'Johny Foreigner'!  Perhaps unwilling would be a better way of saying it.  Personally, I do not subscribe to 'alternative medicine/remedies, but that doesn't mean I would prevent others from using those. Whatever does the job for the individual, I think, but whether scientifically unproven remedies should be provided by an already stretched health system is a thorny question.

    Over the last several months, I have learnt so much about autism, including about related conditions.  Autism and autoimmune conditions are commonly associated I see, and arthritis is an example.  Poor diet amongst the ND cohort can't be good in the grand scheme, yet the health professionals are so stretched that education is seldom offered by the frontline staff because of time constraints. 

    So, we are left to fend for ourselves.  In a way that can be good as we learn more about ND issues and comorbid conditions, such that we become experts in our own care.  The problem then becomes that so many health practitioners can't accept that the patient is as, or indeed more, knowledgeable about their own condition than the doctor.  

Reply

  • What could we do differently is a good question, and I suspect you asked rhetorically.  

    When we emigrated from the UK to Spain, many friends asked, 'What about health care?'  It turns out that health care here is just fine, better in many respects than the NHS in the UK, not perfect, for sure, as it is under-resourced as well.  Today I visited the GP, having made the appointment online on Tuesday afternoon (I could have had an appointment yesterday but was otherwise occupied), and we knocked off three issues in that visit, including me notifying him of my recent autism diagnosis.  Spain's medical system is run by the autonomous regions; Andalucia does spend a lot of time promoting 'wellness', especially for the 'oldies'.  However, demand outstrips supply, and the medics here feel undervalued and have just launched a nationwide strike!

    So, like the UK, there are issues for us in Spain, just different ones.  A year ago I was admitted for emergency surgery, which saved my life and for which I am only now getting back to almost full physical health.  So, like the UK's NHS, when the need is urgent, the system works, and I'm still here and very grateful to the men and women who worked so hard for me.  Getting an autism diagnosis from the health service proved impossible though, and I paid to get it done with the private sector.

    There are many documented examples of health education having positive outcomes across populations around the world, yet the British seem unable to learn from 'Johny Foreigner'!  Perhaps unwilling would be a better way of saying it.  Personally, I do not subscribe to 'alternative medicine/remedies, but that doesn't mean I would prevent others from using those. Whatever does the job for the individual, I think, but whether scientifically unproven remedies should be provided by an already stretched health system is a thorny question.

    Over the last several months, I have learnt so much about autism, including about related conditions.  Autism and autoimmune conditions are commonly associated I see, and arthritis is an example.  Poor diet amongst the ND cohort can't be good in the grand scheme, yet the health professionals are so stretched that education is seldom offered by the frontline staff because of time constraints. 

    So, we are left to fend for ourselves.  In a way that can be good as we learn more about ND issues and comorbid conditions, such that we become experts in our own care.  The problem then becomes that so many health practitioners can't accept that the patient is as, or indeed more, knowledgeable about their own condition than the doctor.  

Children
No Data