We normally assume that lifestyle diseases affect only adults. Unfortunately, this is not true because now even teenagers and young people suffer with such diseases that make their daily life quite challenging. There are many reasons for this change.
We have forgotten our earlier healthy lifestyle that put emphasis on consuming organic products, and making a balance between work and life. With technological advancements, we have become part of a rat race that promotes a more stressful social lifestyle with unhealthy eating habits and sleep cycle. We have stopped enjoying sports and outdoor activities, and our main source of entertainment is through numerous social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Houseparty, Connectd India and Tinder. We have become prisoners of our own creations.
Such a lifestyle has given rise to many diseases. Let’s find out which are those top 10 lifestyle disease that have become rampant in present time.
1. Obesity
Obesity has become the most common side effect of adopting the new social lifestyle that promotes excess consumption. Obesity is not only a disease in itself, but it also gives rise to many other lifestyle ailments like high blood pressure, diabetic, and heart diseases. We are quite familiar with what causes obesity, yet we tend to ignore it. To find out whether you’re obese or not, the key factor is your BMI, and if it is higher than 25, you are in the obese category. Eating unhealthy food, stressful lifestyle, and reduced physical activities translates into obesity. It often creates other complications such as breathing issues, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, making you a sitting duck for lifestyle diseases.
As per National Family Health Survey, India with 155 million obese people currently ranks second and this number is increasing at an alarming rate of 33-51% every year.
2. Type II diabetes:
As mentioned in the beginning, obesity is the primary causes of Type II diabetes. It occurs in adult because of poor eating habits and consuming excess of sugar, and embracing bad lifestyle choices. India is considered as the diabetic capital of the world having 41 million type II diabetic patients. Now, even children and young adults are falling prey to this debilitating disease. As a result, the number of diabetic people is constantly on a rise, and this must be a concern for the government and medical professionals.
3. Arteriosclerosis:
It is caused by the thickening of arterial blood vessel. Arteriosclerosis leads to
blood circulation disorders, chest pain, and often heart attacks.
It’s also directly linked to obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, and almosst 30-40% of cardiovascular deaths happen in the age group of 34-64 in India.
4. Heart diseases:
Heart disease are bane of modern lifestyle, and now even youngsters in their 20s and 30s fall prey to heart ailments. Our lifestyle has undergone a lot of change in the last two decades. Our work has become more demanding, our diet is mostly unhealthy, and we tend to overstretch ourselves, compromising our sleep pattern. All these trigger into heart diseases which ultimately may result in heart atracks. Heart attacks have become number one reason for premature deaths. Any irregularity or abnormality such as the blockage of arteries or blood veins that affects the heart muscle and blood vessel walls can be referred to as a heart disease. Instances of smoking, high cholesterol level, and diabetes further add to complications.
High cholesterol (LDL) level significantly contribute to its development among people. India has dubious distinction of being a country with 50 million heart patients.
5. High blood pressure:
High blood pressure has become so common, it has reached to epidemic proportions. There are more than 100 million people in India who suffer from high blood pressure. Some very common triggers for high blood pressure are namely high stress level, obesity, genetic factors and unhealthy eating habits. The normal blood pressure level is 120/80, and if any reading goes beyond this level, the person is supposedly suffering with high blood pressure. Although by little changes, and regular medication, it can be easily managed.
6. Cancer:
This is the most dreaded disease for quite some time. But of late, the cases of cancer have surprisingly increased. A lot of it can be attributed to our eating habits that has made us addicted to junk food and unhealthy lifestyle. In earlier time, people mostly consumed homemade food, and stayed healthy but in the last few years, we developed fondness for the western food that is packed with unsaturated fats and other harmful ingredients. The lifestyle we lead is also very stressful, which has further eroded our immunity system. This makes white blood cells weaker, and they fail to fight the viruses that enter our body. This may lead to irregular cell growth within our body which is known as cancer, and it can affect any human organ such as lung, brain, kidney, abdomen, spleen or skin. There could be number of causes for cancer, but prolonged smoking is considered one the main reasons for lung cancer, and an excess exposure to the sun results in skin cancer.
7. Stroke:
Another lifestyle disease that became prevalent in last two decades is stroke. It occurs in people having unusually very high blood pressure especially when the blood vessel carrying blood to the brain has a blockage. This creates deficiency of oxygen in that particular area of brain it carried blood to, which leads to brain stroke. High blood pressure, if not managed with proper medications, can lead to a life threatening situation. Stroke can also happen because of hereditary reasons.
8. Obstructive pulmonary disease:
The permanent obstruction of the airways causes Obstructive Pulmonary disease. The increase in air pollution in last couple of years has added to the problem. Also incidents of gas leaks and smoking can worsen the situation. You can imagine how widely people are afflicted with COPD by having a look at the figures. There were 4.3 million people only in India in 2014 who suffered with COPD.
9. Lever Cirrhosis:
Cirrhosis affects one of the most vital human organs called liver. It’s defined as a type of liver disorder caused by heavy alcohol consumption and also as a result of chronic hepatitis. In present time, it’s increasingly becoming a common lifestyle disease as consumption of alcoholic drinks is continuously on the rise. There are various reasons for this fatal attraction. Some people find it cool to consume alcohol frequently thinking it’s part and parcel of the modern lifestyle, while some do it because of the societal pressure, and there are those who consume alcohol to cope up with their stress.
10. Nephritis:
It affects kidneys that act as our filtration system. So, when there is swelling in the kidneys leading to disruption in the normal function, it is known as nephritis. There could be many causes for nephritis, and one of them is having an allergic reaction to a medication or the antibiotic. Besides, it can also be caused by the bacterial infections, which may enter our system after consuming foods that are usually not prepared in hygienic conditions.