Lifestyle Diseases

Student’s name
Professor’s name
Course
Date
Lifestyle diseases
Lifestyle diseases, as the term describes are caused by the way someone lives. That means they are associated with today’s common sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, alcohol, smoking, fatty foods and even drug abuse. These diseases are most common in developed and advanced countries while they are rare in underdeveloped countries due to their lack of technology or goods. Lifestyle diseases include atherosclerosis, obesity, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer and heart disease. It should be noted that heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in America, which is characterized by its abundance of goods, advanced technology and a hectic pace of life (Folta et al 1).
To begin with, these diseases differ from other conditions in plenty of ways. First of all, most of them are not hereditary or even if they are, a healthy way of living can overcome genetics in some cases. Second, they are not contagious. Moreover, they can be prevented with a correct lifestyle and exercise when there is not a strong genetic disposition. In addition, their effects and risks can be reduced through a proper change of diet and serious changes in lifestyle. That is possible if there is not much harm done yet, otherwise their impacts can be almost irreversible.
Nowadays, the vast majority of professions demand working long hours, often sitting in front of a computer since everything is driven by technology. Obligations, family and work leave little spare time for people to cook a proper meal.

As a consequence, lunch breaks include having a sandwich or some other fast food, which can be consumed quickly, so that they resume their work. After work, family chores leave no time for exercise. Feeling tired from all the day’s work, people resort to fast food delivered to their homes since it is easy and requires no effort. As far as alcohol, smoking and drug abuse are concerned, there can be a lot of reasons behind them. Depression, the most common mental disorder nowadays, is a deep pain in people’s hearts, which they try to numb with substances. Unfortunately, those substances cause further problems as they are addictive and more of them is required to alleviate the emotional pain. That leads to a vicious cycle, which slowly leads to early death. Apart from depression, anxiety disorders, grief, or even the force of habit can make a person seek refuge in substances. Nicotine relaxes the brain, causing a false feeling of calmness. As a result, more and more people use smoking to face their stressful jobs or anxiety filled lives. Concerning caffeine, it is not harmful as long as it does not exceed a limit. It is also addictive even though it is seemingly innocent. Unfortunately, working long hours demands a high dosage of caffeine, which then stimulates the sympathetic nerve and raises the heart beats, causing an overdrive of the heart’s function.
Lifestyle diseases sometimes require a lifetime of carelessness in order to evolve into something life threatening. However, their development starts early. For instance, atherosclerosis begins at puberty and develops over the course of 50 years (Insull1). It is a serious condition, where fat forms into plaques inside arteries, causing them to stiffen as they lose their elasticity (Insull1). As a consequence, their diameter decreases and less oxygenated blood can reach the heart and other organs. Eventually this stenosis results in thrombosis where the artery is blocked by a high percentage and needs immediate surgery. Even worse, if undiagnosed, the artery ruptures, causing a massive hemorrhage with very few chances of survival. Factors such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, smoking and sometimes genes are responsible for atherosclerosis (Insull1).
Another common lifestyle disease is obesity. As mentioned above, a sedentary lifestyle, a lack of exercise, a diet rich in fats and carbohydrates and fast food are to blame for it. In the past, when technology did not dominate people’s lives, people used to work more with their hands. Most of them cultivated their fields, took care of their livestock and had to walk or ride a horse in order to reach places. Families were raised with traditional values, where lunch and dinner consisted of a home cooked meal. Due to all that physical exercise and healthy diet, their health was much better, their hearts functioned properly and their bodies were slender and fit. These days, the opposite happens as the vast majority of American are obese and this is true for a lot of other developed countries, too.
Furthermore, diabetes mellitus or type 2 diabetes, is a worldwide metabolic syndrome, which has its roots in environmental, genetic and behavioral risk factors (Abdulfatai 1). More and more people develop this chronic disorder, while it is expected that the number of people affected is going to double in the next decade (Abdulfatai 1). Physical inactivity, high alcohol consumption, smoking and obesity are lifestyle factors responsible for the development of type 2 diabetes. Childhood obesity has skyrocketed the percentage of affected people while the number is increasing rapidly like an epidemic (Abdulfatai 1). This condition entails a high concentration of glucose in blood and a lack of insulin. Consequently, insulin is injected to fight this deficiency. It is a lifetime disorder which leads to serious complications, like blood clots, where people have to have their limbs amputated and eventually early death. Even environmental toxins have been found guilty of causing diabetes mellitus (Abdulfatai 1).
As mentioned above, a healthy lifestyle which includes home cooked meals and physical activity leads to a healthier and longer life. Also cutting down on alcohol and fast food and quitting smoking are essential. These are risk modifiable factors, which create a higher possibility that a lifestyle disease is prevented. Moreover, as far as cancer is concerned, its causes also include environmental factors. Therefore, all the above mentioned risk modifiable factors along with less sun exposure can lessen the possibilities of its appearance.
Sadly, there are environmental factors which cannot be avoided. Air and water pollution, environmental toxins and radiation contribute highly to a percentage of cancer cases. This is a result of industrial revolution, technology advancement and humanity’s disrespect towards nature. Deforestation and pollution are destroying the environment and indirectly humans, as more and more environmentally linked lifestyle diseases appear. Hopefully, as people are becoming more environmentally sensible, some of these diseases might decrease. However, nothing happens without effort. All things considered, lifestyle conditions are a reality these days. Nevertheless, their risk of appearance can be reduced if necessary lifestyle changes are made. It is essential that the number of affected people decreases so that the following generation might have a chance of living a longer, healthier and happier life.
.
Works Cited
Abdulfatai B. et al, “Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Review of Current Trends”, Oman Medical Journal, 2012 http://www.omjournal.org/images/259_M_Deatials_Pdf_.pdf, Accessed 7 August 2018
Folta S. et al, “Factors Related to Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction in Midlife and Older Women: A Qualitative Study”, Prevent Chronic Diseases, 2008 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2248795/, Accessed 7 August 2018
Insull, W., “The Pathology of Atherosclerosis: Plaque Development and Plaque Responses to Medical Treatment”, The American Journal of Medicine ,2009 https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(08)01017-6/pdf, Accessed 7 August 2018