May 2024
Health service? social murder?
Submitted by stevein7 on Tue, 2011-03-08 13:53
The area of health and its relationship with social conditions is extensive and long discussed. In the past socialists accused the capitalist class of social murder, for creating the conditions which would no doubt result in a shortened lifespan of their working class victims.
Today the biggest killers such as heart disease are directly related to working hours, stress, etc.
The obesity epidemic is related to an environment which favours it.
the biggest health concern of the future is said to be mental health.
We can only imagine how crisis capitalism will deal with it, but here is an inkling.
Benzodiazepines: The Problem
Benzodiazepines are highly addictive. Ativan is one of the most addictive drugs known to man, a three year withdrawal (tapering of dose to zero) from the prescribed dose may be necessary, 12 months withdrawal is common. Benzodiazepine addiction is a physical addiction. The nervous system becomes reliant on the benzodiazepine chemicals, which replace natural chemicals in the nervous system. If the benzo chemicals are removed or reduced the nervous system cannot operate properly. The natural chemicals may regenerate slowly or not at all. Furthermore, benzodiazepines are poisonous. They insidiously poison the body and its organs.
While the dangers of benzodiazepines are enormous, their efficacy is limited. They do not cure anything. Benzodiazepines can only suppress the symptoms of anxiety and only for a short period. The Data Sheet recommendation is for a prescribing period of 2-4 weeks in total.
As the efficacy of benzodiazepines decrease, addiction can already be setting in. Also, paradoxical reactions can start to appear, the drug produces the conditions it attempts to treat such as anxiety, insomnia and anger. These are the first stages of the Tranquilliser Trap.
The current number of benzo addicts in the UK is estimated at one and a half million although no official figures exist. Many more people are ingesting benzos and are on their way to addiction. Many other ex-addicts have withdrawn but remain damaged. There is no treatment for benzo damage. Post-benzo sufferers are often left to struggle alone, stigmatised and excluded by the Health Service that made them ill.
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Smoking statistics — Smoking
Smoking statistics - Smoking and cancerMore than half a century ago, the causal link between lung cancer and tobacco smoking was established. 1-5 Since then a wealth of information has been assembled on the tragic health consequences of tobacco consumption and the highly addictive nature of nicotine in cigarettes which makes smoking cessation so difficult. Today, tobacco consumption is recognised as the UK’s single greatest cause of preventable illness and early death with 107,000 people dying in 2007 from smoking-related diseases including cancers. 6Around 86% of lung cancer deaths in the UK are caused by tobacco smoking and, in addition, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) states that tobacco smoking can also cause cancers of the following sites: upper aero-digestive tract (oral cavity, nasal cavity, nasal sinuses, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus), pancreas, stomach, liver, bladder, kidney, cervix, bowel, ovary (mucinous) and myeloid leukaemia. 7Overall tobacco smoking is estimated to be responsible for more than a quarter of cancer deaths in the UK, that is, more than 43,000 deaths in 2007
Smoking prevalence varies
Smoking prevalence varies widely around the world and is increasing rapidly in many developing countries, creating huge health problems for the future if unchecked. Worldwide approximately 1.3 billion people currently smoke cigarettes or other tobacco products. 16The majority of the world’s smokers (80%) live in low or middle income countries. By 2025/30, it is estimated that 10 million people will die annually from smoking-related diseases, 70% of these deaths in developing countries. 17 (Cancer research uk)
UK class divide
Smokers by socio-economic group
Before the dangers of cigarette smoking were widely known, smoking prevalence varied little by socio-economic group. Today there are clear differences due to the differential decline in smoking by social class that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2009, 26% of adults in manual households smoked compared to 16% of those in non-manual households ( The difference between managerial and professional households and routine and manual households is even greater (15% compared to 29%)
Working overtime increases
Working overtime increases heart risk, a study finds
Putting in long shifts may put extra strain on the heart, experts believe
People who regularly put in overtime and work 10 or 11-hour days increase their heart disease risk by nearly two-thirds, research suggests.The findings come from a study of 6,000 British civil servants, published online in the European Heart Journal. After accounting for known heart risk factors such as smoking, doctors found those who worked three to four hours of overtime a day ran a 60% higher risk. Experts said the findings highlighted the importance of work-life balance. Overall, there were 369 cases where people suffered heart disease that caused death, had a heart attack or developed angina. And the number of hours spent working overtime appeared to be strongly linked in many cases. The researchers said there could be a number of explanations for this. People who spend more time at work have less time to exercise, relax and unwind. They may also be more stressed, anxious, or have depression. A career-minded person will also tend to be a "Type A" personality who is highly driven, aggressive or irritable, they say. "Employees who work overtime may also be likely to work while ill - that is, be reluctant to be absent from work despite illness," they add. Lead researcher Mianna Virtanen, an epidemiologist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki and University College London, said: "More research is needed before we can be confident that overtime work would cause coronary heart disease." Cathy Ross, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, which part-funded the research, said: "This study raises further questions about how our working lives can influence our risk of heart disease. "Although the researchers showed a link between working more than three hours overtime every day and heart problems, the reasons for the increased risk weren't clear.
And working overtime for the
And working overtime for the basic rate which is now becoming common won't make this problem ahy smaller...
Obesity is a huge problem
Obesity is a huge problem here in the states, as is diabetes. It is popularly treated in capitalist media as if it were a problem of abundance. You can take a trip through the market in any working class neighborhood or poor rural area and see why obesity is a problem, it is because the capitalist class is feeding people profitable poison instead of food, while others go hungry. So while the first generation in the US has been born and grown up to be smaller in average height than their parents because of lack of decent nutrition, there is side by side with this a massive problem of obesity and diabetes.
A friend of mine working two full-time jobs told me that "we can rest when we're dead", then he had a heart attack on the job not long afterwards.
Although the medical world
Although the medical world is hardly a fortress of Marxism, it should be fairly obvious that capitalist prioorities and the health of the species are far from compatible.
Drugs, legal and illegal, food quality and quantity, pollution, stress, accidents etc are relatively obvious targets.
Lack of exercise may not be so obvious, but is directly related to a distorted work/life balance and psychological factors of low self esteem etc.
Scientists mostly agree on the necesssity of regular and vigorous exercise (Walking and gardening are not enough) to combat several degenerative conditions.
Quality of life is directly blighted by the imposition of alienated labour, itself a major source of stress.
CAPITALISM - PAST THE SELL BY DATE AND UNFIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.