Examination of Witnesses (Question Numbers
220-223)
MR RAPHAEL
WITTENBERG AND
PROFESSOR CAROL
JAGGER
5 NOVEMBER 2009
Q220 Chairman: Professor Jagger,
I realise you have been sitting there for quite a long time now.
I am going to give you the opportunity; it is entirely a matter
for you whether you want to take it or not. Do you have anything
further to say to the Committee?
Professor Jagger: The only bit
of information that I have not made clear, when we were talking
about the impact of key diseases on disability was that by the
time people reach 85 and over it is not a matter of a key disease
that they have; they have a number of diseases and there is a
high degree of co-morbidity. It is not as easy to disentangle
what effect a single disease might have in that population.
Q221 Dr Naysmith: May I just tease
out something else? You were talking about people who were overweight
or obese being a little bit protected. I am pretty sure what you
were trying to say, although I was not very clear, was that people
were not protected by their obesity; they were protected because
they went for extra tests and were picked up by the system. Is
that what you were trying to say?
Professor Jagger: Yes, although
a common condition in the very old is falls.
Q222 Dr Naysmith: If you do not move,
you do not fall much.
Professor Jagger: If you have
a little more cushioning you are less likely to get your hip fractured.
Q223 Dr Naysmith: It is a complex
area.
Professor Jagger: It is a complex
area.
Chairman: No further questions. May I
thank you both very much indeed for coming along? It has been
a very interesting session.
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