One of my patients today was an 87-year-old lady who'd been diagnosed with diabetes in August and been referred straight to us for screening. Now, I know everyone's entitled to the best care available, and I have no objection to her receiving it, but on a human level, I have to wonder whether it was really worth making that diagnosis.

The lady was in good health, not overweight, required no tablets and had no sign of retinopathy in her eyes. That's the good news. The bad news is that in her 88th year, this sudden diagnosis of diabetes has caused her all kinds of stress. She told me that she'd had a routine blood test for something else, which had led to her being told that she's diabetic. Before she knew it, she was being referred for retinopathy screening, and worrying about everything from her eyes to her feet.

She was even panicking about what she should be eating, and was desperate for information on the kind of diet she should be following. When I gave her a few basic details, the relief was visible in her face. Her response was "That's what I tend to eat anyway".

Maybe she has slightly high blood sugar levels, and maybe she'd benefit from bringing them down, but at the age of 87, is it really worth giving the lady two months of stress just to achieve it? I think that in this case, maybe no news would have been good news.