Four in every five deaths in London today are due to unhealthy lifestyles, including factors such as smoking, alcohol, bad diets and a lack of exercise.
This simply isn’t true. Or rather we can’t demonstrate that
this is true. Here’s the ONS on causes of death:
Around half a million people, representing less than one per cent of the total population, died in England and Wales in 2009. The vast majority of deaths occurred at older ages, with almost eight out of ten men and nearly nine out of ten women dying at age 65 or above.
It’s worth noting here that the annual number of deaths is
as low as the number of deaths in the 1950s when there were significantly fewer
people. So there are (per 1000 population) fewer people dying than ever before
and the average age of death is higher than ever before. The chances are that
it’s old age that’s killing people rather than a libertine lifestyle:
For those aged 80 years and above coronary heart disease and stroke were the leading causes of death for both men and women. For men, influenza and pneumonia appear amongst the top three leading causes of death; these illnesses also appeared as a leading cause of death for males in the youngest age-group, one to four years. For women, dementia was prominent among the leading causes of death in this oldest age group and it is notable that the total number of deaths for women aged 80 years and above exceeded the combined total of all deaths amongst females at younger ages.
So why is it that health ‘leadership’ is so keen to take
on the evil choices we make rather than continue the work of getting better at
managing heart conditions, better at treating cancer and better at responding
to injury? Why finger lifestyle rather than the truth – that our longevity is
placing an ever greater strain on health and care services?
Dr Andy Mitchell, Medical Director for NHS England is right
when he says:
“London’s hospitals are at breaking point and the demand for health care will outstrip the funding available in just seven years unless we fundamentally change the way services are delivered."
But absolutely wrong when he tries to blame this problem on “...conditions
that stem from what we are doing to ourselves.”
This simply isn’t true – unless
he means eating better, living healthier and surviving for longer.
The medical mafia has decided that it must correct our
lifestyles. Not because a correction is needed but because that mafia has
decided it disapproves of our lifestyles. Or, to be more specific, the
lifestyles of people in lower socio-economic classes – you know the sort who
drink beer, eat supermarket microwave burgers and drink fizzy-pop. For this
health mafia the working classes really are a drain on society.
...
