Comments

Tom

You are not obsessed with health and if you were what does it matter? – staying alive is pretty much a priority methinks :-)

I - on the other hand - AM pretty well obsessed with health of course and proud of it!

The way I see it we all have a responsibility for the health of our kids and that of our grandchildren.

We all need to be made more aware about promoting health. This may mean investing less in treatment and more in prevention.

Today Tony Blair’s government has announced exciting plans for the next 10 years shifting billions of pounds from hospital to community care. See the attached BBC News Report. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4655514.stm

I sincerely hope at long last a British Government is doing something rather than mouthing the words about prevention and promotion being the priority over treatment but not actually delivering 'when push comes to shove' (sorry for English saying there) I hope the public accept closure of hospitals which is an inevitability if we are really going to see this shift.

I am delighted to see you rattling the health cage - long may you do it. There is chance people may listen to you.

As regards Diabetes – this was one of my ten points under a previous posting you made a few days ago called ‘1030 PM. United Arab Emirates.’

“In the UK Diabetes sufferers spend 3 hours per year with a clinician – this mean they spend 8733 hours per year without clinicians. In other words for over 99% of the time they are alone in dealing with their illness – along with their family of course - Who is the expert?”

Posted by Trevor Gay at January 30, 2006 10:19 AM

Au contraire - you're as usual on the laser leading edge.

As an allergenic kid early on I naturally tuned into nutrition and exerise [fuel and oxygen] ... what an amazing 100 fold payoff for time invested in taming and conditioning the divine gift.

The daily high of a rad lean 6% bodyfat lifestyle must be experienced to be believed - endorphin and seratonin management baby - get high stay high natural chemistry ... [well much of the time anyway - that is my theory and am sticking to it - love to instantly change my mind though] ...

Posted by Sean at January 30, 2006 10:20 AM

Maybe "public-private-benevolent" to include mega impacts of the likes of Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Ted Turner, Bono, et al.

Posted by Sean at January 30, 2006 10:40 AM

I see a chiropractor much more often than any other kind of health practicioner. This guy is big on nutrition as a healing agent. He is knee-deep in the war between "alternative" healers and the established medical practice. His favorite saying about regular doctors is that "all they know how to do is try to kill something with chemicals, and when that doesn't work they cut it out." I think we will see some changes in the established medical community in years to come as people become more self-aware and more accepting of "alternative" medicine. The MDs will have to change to keep up with the times, I think.

Posted by Mike at January 30, 2006 11:07 AM

No you're not obsessed nor are you late to the party on this. Even the folks who are attending a party are at the wrong ones. You're at least standing back trying to sort the long-term view and it's impact.

We've got more people, more people living longer, more people living alone--both before they get married and at the end of their lives. That's a crisis in mental health slowly growing and being fed by people who want to label and make solutions for things that weren't problems 30 years ago.

We've got no answer to medical care anywhere in the world that works for the common folks. In the US, Doctors are forced to spend time on the phone with HMOs. Litigation has killed any chance of an efficient diagonosis, evidence-based outcomes probably falls out here too.

Wellness plans in businesses? Small companies can barely afford benefits. People keep jobs they HATE for the insurance, now there's a healthy lifestyle.

Partnerships, now there's where the hope probably lies. If the corporations could get behind the list you made and find a way to sell the intangible benefits for a little less profit to their shareholders. The potential of change is real, if a dream.

I like dreams. Sometimes they do come true.

Posted by Liz Strauss at January 30, 2006 12:15 PM

Tom, while problems with preventative care, medical practice and organization approaches to health care have been around for ages; you ARE at the cusp of the transformation movement. That hasn't been done yet. We all feel the same thing (across the world even), and we're all waiting for somebody to step forward and lead the way. You ARE part of that change, by continually highlighting the issues and keeping recurring problems from hiding in the fog of beaurocracy. Beat the drum and keep on marching!

Posted by Tom O'Leary at January 30, 2006 12:42 PM

I think Chiropractors and Chiropractic Colleges are on the leading edge of "Health" Care (not "Acute" care). My Chiropractor is always talking about Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Chiropractic is not a short-term answer to healthcare woes, matter of fact it is a lifestyle. I would like to hear your thoughts on Chiropractors and their impact on HC21.J1

Posted by John at January 30, 2006 2:43 PM

Tom, chronic diseases--many the result of inactivity and obesity--are becoming an epidemic in the USA. Our automobile dominated built environment is one of the culprits. We need to design and build active living cities and neighboroods. We must create the HEALTHY CITY where kids can actually walk to school safely(only 11% do today, compared to a majority only 20 years ago), where everyone is enticed to walk to neighborhood shops and "third place" hang-outs (e.g. coffee shops, publid squares), with parks no more than a 5 minute walk away, and safe and convenient transportation choices--cycling, bus, train.

Posted by James van Hemert at February 3, 2006 2:11 PM

Amen James. You're spot on with the suggestion of a community/societal re-structure to facilitate healthy living!

City planners take note!

Posted by Tom O'Leary at February 9, 2006 12:15 PM