If you have certain medical or lifestyle conditions you could qualify for a better pension. You could get significantly more income than someone who’s in good health. Here we highlight some common conditions. If more than one of these conditions apply to you, or if your conditions are more serious, you could get a much better pension. If your condition(s) isn’t shown, don’t worry, over 1,500 can be taken into consideration.
Cholesterol. Many people at retirement suffer from cholesterol problems. Scientists have now discovered a new form of ‘ultra-bad’ cholesterol that increases the risk of heart disease. The fatty material is actually stickier than the common form of ‘bad’ cholesterol, making it more likely to fix itself to artery walls. The new type of cholesterol is most often found in elderly folk and also those with Type 2 diabetes. The discovery has been made by researchers working at the University of Warwick looking at different forms of harmful cholesterol, or low-density lipoprotein (called LDL).
The ultra-bad form, MGmin-LDL, has sugary molecules that are smaller and denser than those of normal LDL.
Cancer. Older people carry the greatest burden of cancer, with over half of all cancers being diagnosed in 50-74 year olds. Slightly more cases of cancer were diagnosed in males (an average of 85,005 per year) than in females (76,077) in this age group in the UK during the period 2006-2008.
Prostate cancer accounts for more than one in four (27%) cases diagnosed in males in this age group. Other common cancers for males include lung cancer (15%) and colorectal cancer (14%). Over a third (35%) of cases diagnosed in females aged 50-74 are breast cancers, many of which are diagnosed through screening. Lung and colorectal cancers account for 12% and 11% of cases occurring in females in this age group, respectively.
Asthma. 4.3 million adults in the UK are currently having treatment for asthma. An estimated 75% of hospital admissions for asthma can be avoided. 42% of people with allergies say that their allergies affects their social life. 61% of people with asthma say that their asthma prevents them from getting a good night’s sleep.
In Northern Ireland 146,000 adults are currently receiving treatment for asthma. In Scotland 296,000 adults are currently receiving treatment for asthma. In Wales 256,000 adults are currently receiving treatment for asthma.
Diabetes. Diabetes is an extremely common medical condition, and many well known people suffer from it. The following people are just a few famous names on record as being diabetes sufferers: Halle Berry – of James Bond fame, Sir Stephen Redgrave – five times Olympic gold medallist, Billy Jean King, Paul Cezanne, Giacomo Puccini, Tony Bennett, James Brown, Johnny Cash, Ella Fitzgerald, Meatloaf, Thomas Edison, and Ernest Hemingway, to name but a few.
If you suffer from diabetes, you’re certainly in good company.
Heart Disease. Coronary heart disease is more common in older people. Up to the age of 65, it’s more common in men than it is in women. It’s also more common amongst people from India and Pakistan.
There are various factors that increase your risk of developing coronary heart disease, including: smoking, being overweight, especially if you have excess fat round your tummy, an inactive lifestyle, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol.
Kidney disease. About 1 in 10 people has some degree of kidney disease. It can develop at any age, and it becomes more common with increasing age and is also more common in women.
Although about half of people aged 75 or more have some degree of kidney disease, most of these people don’t have diseases of their kidneys; they have normal ageing of their kidneys. Chronic kidney disease is caused by diabetes, high blood pressure, and ageing kidneys in the main.
Alcohol consumption. Your alcohol consumption can effect the amount of retirement income you receive. And you don’t have to be in the same league as Oliver Reed or Richard Harris. If you consume alcohol on a regular basis, you could be eligible for a better pension income.
People don’t really like talking about their drinking habits, but the truth is that the more you drink the higher your income could be.
Smoking. If you’ve smoked regularly for ten years or more you could qualify fo extra retirement income. Criteria tends to be ten cigarettes per day, but the more you smoke the higher your income could be.
Unfortunately, most people at retirement also suffer from one or more associated medical conditions. However, if this is the case then you could get an even higher retirement income.
Obesity. Obesity is getting to be a serious issue, and not just in the UK. There is a natural tendency for people to put weight on as they get older, part of the reason being that they are less active, doing more sitting around. Around 1 in 4 people over the age of 50 are considered obese.
Obesity can also often be related to other medical conditions, which can lead to higher retirement incomes.
Arthritis. In England there are an estimated 580,000 people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, with around 26,000 new cases diagnosed every year. Many of those people are of retirement age.
In addition to the half a million people with rheumatoid arthritis there are almost 10 million people with other musculoskeletal conditions that could well do with proper diagnosis and treatment.
Organ transplants. A record 3,706 organ transplants took place in the UK last year, that’s an increase of 5% on the previous 12 months. There has also been an increase in the number of individuals volunteering to join the UK donor register, which hit the 17 million mark for the first time in 2010. The number of deceased organ donors was 959 last year, some donating several organs. There were also 1,061 living donations.
There are still around 8,000 people on the waiting list for organ donations.
Blood pressure. Blood pressure increases as you get older because the arteries become stiffer. Thus, high blood pressure is a very frequent condition in the elderly, effecting around 15% to 25% of the population. According to medical studies, people aged 60 and over are considered old.
The difficulty with older people is represented by the extreme daily variation of the blood pressure, depending in particular on the body’s position. There can often be a hypotension during the passage from the sitting or lying position to the standing upright position.
If you have any of the 12 conditions for a better pension, or indeed, any other medical or lifestyle conditions, give us a call, and discover how much extra pension we could get for you.
