Advances in health care mean a longer life expectancy for many patients, however quality of life has not improved proportionately. Sana Zakaria looks at the pressures to provide health care for a rapidly ageing population living with multiple comorbidities.
By 2018, it is predicted that about three million people will be living with multiple long-term conditions, which will cost the NHS and social care an extra £5 billion (Department of Health [DH], 2012a). Cardiovascular disease is a long-term condition affecting around seven million people in the UK, and is often accompanied by a plethora of other conditions in the ageing population. Cardiovascular disease was responsible for nearly 30% of all deaths in the UK in 2013, and is one of the largest causes of disability in the country (DH, 2013).
Pamela Dyson reviews link between diet and diabetes
Pamela A. Dyson BSc, SRD is a Diabetes Specialist Dietitian at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Churchill Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LJ. Article accepted for publication: March 2004
