Diseases of Modernity

2 minute read

At the global level in 2019, seven out of ten leading causes of death were Chronic non-communicable diseases.

All non-communicable diseases together caused 74% of total deaths all over the world in 2019. {1}

Cardiovascular diseases were the cause of 32% of deaths globally in 2019. {2}

According to WHO, 39% of adults (people over 18 years of age) were obese or overweight in 2016. One third of them were obese. {3}

You would agree that these are sobering statistics. Chronic lifestyle-related diseases are on the rise in every part of the modern world. These diseases of modernity include Ischemic Heart Disease, Stroke, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, and Diabetes Mellitus to name a few. It's not that people did not suffer from these diseases before but it is the rate at which they are occurring, and increasing, that is staggering.

On a different front, people, the world over, are living longer. More people can expect to live beyond 60. {4} The success of this expansion in lifespan is overshadowed by the threat to healthspan posed by these chronic diseases. The risk of developing these diseases increases manifold with overweight and obesity. Additionally, overweight and obesity is increasingly being seen in young children and adolescents.

A simple measure of overweight and obesity is Body Mass Index (BMI).

BMI= Weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of height (in metres)

Value of BMI between 25 to 30 is classified as overweight and above 30 as Obesity.

However, because south asian adults have a higher risk of chronic lifestyle-related diseases compared to age-matched white caucasians at a lesser BMI, the WHO has declared that the cut off point for overweight varies between 22 and 25 in different asian populations and that the waist circumference should be additionally used as a measure of risk. {5}

So, what is your BMI, and that of the people you care about? I hope that the statistics above have convinced you that reaching and maintaining a healthy body weight is important for preventing disease and promoting health for everyone, irrespective of age, gender, socioeconomic status or ethnicity.

These are a few things you can incorporate into daily life to reach and maintain a healthy body weight- Balanced diet, variety of physical activity, restful sleep, stress management and nourishing social relationships. (Each one of these is vast enough to write a book on!) All these have a role to play in handling this crisis of chronic lifestyle-related diseases.

If we are to reclaim the pleasure of having a longer lifespan in this modern world, it will take a concerted effort to make the necessary changes in the way we live, from all of us. Rome was not built in a day! There are no shortcuts, we are into this lifestyle change for the long haul. So, let us get started.

Diseases of Modernity

2 minute read

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