Chronic health conditions breaking Australia's Medicare

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #1

Thought this might interest this forum. Choice quotes include “younger Australians have rising chronic disease” and “the rising tide of chronic disease.”

In fairness, we also have a greying population. But in my humble opinion we could probably achieve a great deal rather quickly by demolishing the food pyramid, taxing sugar, and really taking a sledgehammer to the consumption of processed food-like products.

But that’s just my two cents.

P.S. A note for overseas friends: Australia’s Medicare program covers all Australians and also New Zealanders who reside here. (Not just retired people like in the US, for example.)

#2

Hi Gabe your post popped up while I was on The Conversation (science and politics communication media) for something else (bushfire mitigation).

Does the article you present relate to the Grattan Report?

Here is another look at it. That means we have two points in a triangulation.

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #3

Yep, they’re both based on the Grattan Report – no coincidence, because I think it came out that day.

Personally I think the project of making our health care systems conform to the explosion in chronic health conditions is a fool’s errand–because it is unsustainable.

Nobody will listen, however, because it’s too inconvenient a truth. We will continue enabling the consumption of processed foods and sugar, and we will bankrupt our treasuries dealing with the fallout from this folly, and our politicians will continue pretending as if they can’t see the connection between the two.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

As @richard likes to say, follow the money.

#5

I agree here. And would add that a low-carb approach to nutrition would be a helpful tool in rectifying the problem. But that is stating the obvious here, and will have me lynched, out there.

All thanks to the science communicators at Low Carb Down Under in their persistence and passion.