Lifestyle diseases can be a silent killer

By Dr. Sanjiv Bhambani in Endocrinology & Diabetes

May 02 , 2017 | 1 min read

Dr Sanjiv Bhambani says, he is often asked questions like “What are lifestyle diseases”? He says these diseases are primarily caused due to unhealthy eating, lack of exercises, sleepless nights, and frequent travelling. Perhaps, the diseases most commonly related to lifestyle are overweight, hypertension and diabetes.

Are working women more vulnerable to lifestyle diseases?

It is true that working women are more vulnerable to diabetes and hypertension than their male counterparts because of added responsibilities and the pressure of meeting deadlines at the workplace. The day starts early from sending the children to school, completing the household chores, to taking office assignments home.

Diabetes and hypertension are coexisting diseases. Together they can increase the incidence of coronary artery diseases, heart failure, stroke, kidney diseases, eye diseases, progressive atherosclerosis nerve disorders and sudden death. In pregnant women, diabetes and hypertension are detrimental to the well-being of the fetus. Therefore, it is important that both the diseases are prevented or diagnosed early along to provide appropriate treatment to avoid complications.

What can you do to prevent these diseases?

Awareness: If you have a family history of diabetes/hypertension, history of gestational diabetes, polycystic ovarian disease, early onset of heart disease, obesity, you have to careful and take precautions. You need to stress on getting yourself medically evaluated.

Eat Right: If you are progressively gaining weight, you need to restrict your food intake and have a balanced meal. This can be done by restricting intake of fried carbohydrates, increasing intake of fruits and vegetables, salads, fruits and vegetables. Though steamed or roasted fish and chicken are always healthier to consume. People who are prone to hypertension should limit their salt intake.

Exercise: It is important to spend time outdoors with kids by taking a morning walk or exercising. A simple way to exercise is to take the stairs and avoid escalator. You can take a round of your workplace before you head to your office or workstation.

Early detection and treatment: It is necessary to take preventive check-ups frequently. Irregular medications can be harmful or dangerous. It is far more expensive to treat these diseases than treating their complications.

The occurrence of these lifestyle diseases is unknown, they may take several years to develop and once they develop, it is difficult to cure them.