What medical conditions seem more common now than when you were growing up?

Primrose53

I caught part of a report on TV this morning regarding lots of illnesses that are affecting young people now. One was diabetes and I was thinking about when I was at school. Nobody at our primary school had diabetes and I never heard of anybody at grammar school having it.

My grandparents lived in the Channel Islands during the German Occupation in WW2. Before the Germans invaded diabetics had insulin. When they invaded the insulin ran out and they died.

Type 2 diabetes in children and young adults. It used to be unusual to see a fat child and fat young people were fairly rare, now it's not, type 2 diabetes is completely avoidable.

ME/CFS

Cancer in general really. Skin cancers and melanomas in particular. I can’t think of one older person I know that hasn’t had a skin cancer removed ( not all melanomas). Downside of living downunder .

Yep Suffering from nerves was something I heard as a child - usually said in hushed tones!
I remember a class mate dying from diabetes ( type1) - I suppose that’s why it was less common. There was insulin available by then but still early days and survival was more hit and miss. Autoimmune diseases do seem to have become more common but maybe treatment allows better survival now?
Asthma - I’ve had asthma since childhood but it didn’t get called that for a few years - it was a wheezing tendency - and treatment was limited. Inhalers and especially preventative treatments which I think came available around 1975 meant better and much safer management.
There were people with autism- but only those with the severest profound autism were diagnosed and they were not usually cared for in the community.

Coeliacs disease.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia
prostatitis
prostate cancer

Diabetes

greyfur

Hip and knee replacements. I never knew anybody with these. Nor my parents' generation.

Athsma.

ADHD

Hip replacements began in the 60’s I think.

Knee replacements about a decade later, so quite recent I suppose.

valdali

Allergies and stress.

I might be wrong, but wasn't what we now refer to as 'stress/anxiety ' referred to back then as 'suffering with one's nerves''?

Primrose53

I caught part of a report on TV this morning regarding lots of illnesses that are affecting young people now. One was diabetes and I was thinking about when I was at school. Nobody at our primary school had diabetes and I never heard of anybody at grammar school having it.

That’s because it’s weight related, type2 diabetes and even nine year olds are sometimes considered obese now.

Bronchiectasis

I caught part of a report on TV this morning regarding lots of illnesses that are affecting young people now. One was diabetes and I was thinking about when I was at school. Nobody at our primary school had diabetes and I never heard of anybody at grammar school having it.

Well at least we know what all the questions were leading to

Crikey weeks in hospital for cataract surgery Spindrift. And I remember nervous breakdowns being talked about.

New knees made me laugh MT62

Yes I'm sure they were Maws...just not talked about I suppose l. Though everyone seems to call them haemorrhoids now. I do remember a youngish bloke who'd just moved in next door and our first, over the fence, chat was all about his piles and the agony of his very recent operation. I felt sorry for him but didn't expect the graphic details on our first meet 🤣

Allergies.

Asthma. When I was at secondary school, there were only two of us who suffered in the whole school which had about a 1000 pupils. Now it seems really common.

Hip and knee replacements. I never knew anybody with these. Nor my parents' generation.

Athsma.

ADHD

Casdon

Anything gynaecological used to be bundled up as ‘women’s troubles’, and spoken of in hushed tones.

Yes, periods were ‘that time of the month’ and the menopause was ‘the change’ which were never discussed and so didn’t exist.

Anything gynaecological used to be bundled up as ‘women’s troubles’, and spoken of in hushed tones.

Plevey08

Multiple autoimmune diseases
Inflammatory bowel problems
Depression and anxiety
Obesity
Migraine
Sepsis
Hemaroids

Oh haemorrhoids existed OK only they were called piles!

Slight change of subject but I remember my parents saying that people had had a nervous breakdown. I also remember people being alcoholics but with visible signs like very red, shaking etc. My mother knew an elderly lady who she referred to as being senile. My grandmother and godmother were weeks in hospital having their cataracts removed. This was all early 60s.

Multiple autoimmune diseases
Inflammatory bowel problems
Depression and anxiety
Obesity
Migraine
Sepsis
Hemaroids