Doctors focus on 'boomer' patients

AdelaideNow... Doctors focus on 'boomer' patients: "They spent 28 per cent with baby boomer patients aged between 45 and 64 - up from 24 per cent while the 75-plus age group accounted for 15 per cent of GP contact, up from 12 per cent."

I don't know what these figures mean. In all honesty I do not believe younger people are healthier. I think some of them avoid doctors and treatments because of other issues. I think young people do not look after their health. There is also the issue of the cost. Some parents would be hard pressed to get their children to the doctor because of how much it costs and if you have a couple of children and others sick in the family the medicine would make it a very expensive outing indeed. Given the reports on drug use, teenage alcoholism and anorexia then I think doctors ahould have been consulted sooner. Older people will have the habit of seeing a doctor and they will probably have the money to follow through on treatments.

I went for my annual check up today and it's well worth it. If I don't see a doctor for other reasons I go and get a check up. All my tea drinking is paying off because my cholesterol is very low and my blood pressure is smack bang in the middle which is good because it's normally too low. I love my doctor. I have known him through the young children phase and he is someone I can rely upon and trust. He knows about me, he can prescribe good common sense along with his medicine and he has a very balanced approach. He is helpful, he doesn't muck about, he gets extra information when needed and he has proven himself to have sound judgement. I think young people miss out on that . I don't think they get a chance to make a friend of a doctor. I know I can ask my doctor things and I will get a decent answer or pointed in the right direction. Sometimes that is what you need to get on the right side of your health. By the same token he now uses me to bounce ideas off. Like today we talked about the womb transplant in the US and we spoke abpout whether people should work when they were old and what that might mean. We also talked about stress and lifestyle and how we can manage it. He's a really good doctor because as you are being treated all these other broad range issues come into play and you get to explore them.