Britain is no country for old women who want to live long lives, free from pain and sickness

An analysis by Public Health England but based on data from Eurostat taken from all parts of Britain and being published by PHE as part of its annual 'Health Profile for England', reveals that women in Britain are living shorter lives on average than most of their counterparts in Europe.

The average age may seem high at 83 years, but it sees British women placed 17th place out of the nations in the European Union with Spanish women having the highest life expectancy in Europe, at birth, at 86.3 years in 2016. British men do better at 10th place with above-average life expectancy of 79.4, but behind Italy, the leading nation, where old men can expect to live on average to 81.

Professor John Newton, Director of Health Improvement at PHE said : “We are in the middle of the pack and we would like to be at the top. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be as healthy as anywhere in Europe. It is certainly of concern that we have worse outcomes than other European countries. We tend to do badly in men with respiratory disease and in women with cancer, especially breast cancer. It is a sign of the numbers developing disease.”

In addition, the report also shows that healthy life expectancy – the number of years people live before they begin to suffer from illnesses – hasn't changed much in recent years. Women in 2014-16 were spending nearly 20 years of their life in poor health, while men spent just over 16 years in poor health, according to data from the Office for National Statistics included in the report.

The data was based on responses to the following survey question : "How is your health in general; would you say it was : very good, good, fair, bad, or very bad?" If a respondent answered "very good" or "good" they were classified as having ‘good’ health. Those who answered "fair", "bad", or "very bad" were classified as having 'not good’ health and equate to those in ’poor’ health in the reported figures.

Old women are more likely than old men to have either chronic or ongoing health problems such as arthritis, high blood pressure and osteoporosis. They are also more likely to develop multiple health problems and to have either memory or other cognitive problems and difficulties carrying out daily activities such as dressing, walking and bathing without help

When it comes to the end of life, the leading cause of death for women is now dementia and Alzheimer’s disease which is responsible for nearly 16% of their deaths, with heart disease second at just over 8%. For men, that is reversed, with heart disease causing 13.6% and dementia and Alzheimer’s just over 8.% of deaths. However, having said that, PHE says that dementia and Alzheimer’s will become the leading cause of death in men too, possibly within two years.

The Alzheimer’s Society has said that one million people will be living with dementia by 2021 and that the disease has not had the attention it deserves. Sally Copley, Director of Policy said : “We have stressed for a long time that dementia was set to be the 21st century’s biggest killer – it has already become so, and what is the stark reality for women is now also set to be the case for men. What makes this more sobering is that it is the only leading cause of death that we can’t cure, prevent or even slow down, showing the critical need to tackle the dementia crisis.”

In addition, obesity in Britain is causing a big surge in the numbers of old women and men developing type 2 diabetes and the PHE Report shows the numbers are expected to rise swiftly, from just under four million last year to nearly five million in 2035. Along with alcohol consumption, obesity in women is also one of the factors behind the rise in breast cancer.

All of this is attributable to old people in Britain living longer with the number of 85-year-olds tripling since the 1970s and will reach more than two million by 2031.

Professor Newtown also underlined the fact that in Britain in 2018, the inequalities in longevity continue to be related to the inequalities in wealth : “People in wealthier parts of the country enjoy 19 more years of good health than in poorer parts of the country. They live 9 years longer – for men – and 7 years longer for women. These are unacceptable variations.”

This was echoed by Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal College of GPs who underlined the fact that it is well known that : poor diet and lack of exercise = poor health and has said there were genetic and socioeconomic reasons why people were developing long-term conditions affecting their health and “There remains a clear connection between the quality of our patients’ lifestyle and their overall health”.

However, the lion's share of pain and suffering and the leading cause of poor health, responsible for more than 22% of the pain and suffering in old man and women is low back and neck pain, which can be caused by a number of things, including injury and rheumatoid arthritis. After that come skin diseases such as acne and psoriasis and for a third for men is sight and hearing loss, while for women it is migraine. Fourth for both is depressive disorders.

"All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages......

Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

Speech by The Melancholy Jaques in 'As You Like It'. William Shakespeare. 1600.