By Angela Epstein Daily Mail 10/11/08
Routine operations for complaints such as varicose veins are being cut back to save the NHS money, leaving patients having to put up with the agonising condition or pay for expensive private treatment. It’s just privatisation by stealth, says Eddie Chaloner, a consultant vascular surgeon at Lewisham Hospital — and once again, it’s the patient who suffers.

Every week we hear yet more stories about the rationing of life-saving drugs for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.

By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent Daily Telegraph - 10/11/08
Obesity kills more than 9,000 people a year, Alan Johnson warned as he launched a national campaign to fight the crisis. The Health Secretary announced plans for nine new “healthy towns” to share £30 million of investment designed to change attitudes and eating habits.

The announcement is the first stage of a new drive to encourage people to lose weight and become healthier, called Change4Life.

Experts predict that if trends continue the growing obesity problem could lead to rapid rises in the rates of life-threatening diseases like diabetes and cancer.

BBC News 17/10/08
Obesity and lack of fitness raise the risk of illness by impacting negatively on the body’s internal chemistry, research suggests.

A US team found levels of white blood cells were highest in men who were unfit and overweight.

White blood cells are key to fighting infection, but high levels can be a sign of inflammation, which is linked to coronary heart disease.

The study appears in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

20 October 2008 Diabetes UK
The number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK has risen by more than 167,000 since last year, bringing the total diabetes population to almost 2.5 million according to new data from GP practices. This rise is more than double the 2006 to 2007 increase of 83,000.

In England, a 6.4 per cent increase means the number of people diagnosed with diabetes has broken two million for the first time. In Northern Ireland and Wales, the increase was 6.8 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, with diabetes prevalence now standing at 60,822 and 138,988. Improved recording in Scotland contributed to the biggest rise (16.9 per cent) with the recorded diabetes population now standing at 200,669 compared to 171,513.

By Steve Connor, Science Editor INDEPENDENT (UK)
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
The number of Britons undergoing drastic stomach surgery to treat obesity will have to soar in the coming years because it will be the only way that many people are able to maintain the weight loss necessary for a healthy life, scientists have said.

Dieting and other lifestyle changes can lead to substantial weight loss. But many people, the scientists said, find it hard to maintain the loss because hormone levels change, making the body want to produce more fat.

Daily Telegraph 05/05/08
The Government’s medical advisory body is recommending radical surgery to help patients and the public purse, writes Lorraine Fraser.

More than one million people who are grossly overweight should be able to have stomach stapling operations on the National Health Service to cure their eating disorders, according to the body that advises the Government on which treatments should be available the NHS.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) has decided that the consequences of being seriously obese are so great for individuals and the public purse that drastic treatment should be offered routinely where all else has failed.

Press association 20/02/08

Many obesity units are refusing obesity surgery for patients on the grounds of cost, a survey has shown.

The study found that hospitals and primary care trusts have seen a 650% rise in referrals for surgery from doctors over the past five years.

Six out of 10 consultants approached at 20 hospital trusts across England said they were not sufficiently resourced to cope with the huge rise in demand.

The survey of 20 specialist obesity units was carried out by Pulse magazine. Half (52%) of consultants said their units were forced to bounce referrals back to GPs after refusing surgery for patients.

20 February 2008 Swansea Evening Post
Obesity services in Wales are among the worst in the country, a Swansea surgeon has claimed. Professor John Baxter was responding to a study which has found many obesity units are refusing surgery for patients on the grounds of cost.

The study found that hospitals and primary care trusts had seen a 650 per cent rise in patients being referred for surgery over the past five years.

Six out of 10 consultants approached at 20 hospital trusts across England said they were not given the resources to cope with the huge rise in demand.

The Hospital Group are one of the first medical organizations to provide what are referred to as “balloon implants” - a new revolutionary weight loss treatment, ignored by the NHS, which could save thousands suffering from the effects of obesity and its associated diseases.

The Hospital Group, the UK’s leading provider of weight loss surgery, are set to insert silicone balloons into the stomachs of people who are over weight with a BMI of 30+ - making them eat less, feel full and re-learn eating habits over a period of six months.

By DENISE GRADY New York Times
Published: January 23, 2008
Weight-loss surgery works much better than standard medical therapy as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes in obese people, the first study to compare the two approaches has found.

The study, of 60 patients, showed that 73 percent of those who had surgery had complete remissions of diabetes, meaning all signs of the disease went away. By contrast, the remission rate was only 13 percent in those given conventional treatment, which included intensive counseling on diet and exercise for weight loss, and, when needed, diabetes medicines like insulin, metformin and other drugs.