Arushi Bidhuri
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Written By: Arushi Bidhuri | Published : April 7, 2021 6:53 PM IST
World Health Day: Here's how to safeguard yourself from lifestyle diseases
This year, the theme of World Health Day is to build a fairer, healthier world. One of the most important things to keep in mind when you want to build a healthy future is to safeguard yourself from chronic diseases that can wreak havoc on your health. A recent trend report by Indus Health Plus has revealed that people in Maharashtra are susceptible to diabetes (27%) vitamin B12 deficiency (23%), dyslipidemia, (17%), obesity (13%) followed by heart diseases (10%) and Anemia (10%). The key non-modifiable risk factor is the genetic makeup of an individual favoured by environmental, age, gender, stress and physiology, metabolism, which increases the onset and progression of lifestyle diseases. In fact, this is becoming a trend everywhere.
The overall sample size for the study was 21,500 people who underwent preventive health check-ups from October 2019 February 2021. From Pune, the total sample size was 3306 people. It was observed that the denizens are predisposed to diabetes (28%), vitamin B12 deficiency (26%) dyslipidemia (15%), followed by obesity (12%), anaemia (10%) and heart diseases (9%).
Mr Amol Naikawadi, JMD, and Preventive Healthcare Specialist Indus Health Plus said, "Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are prevalent in India. These diseases tend to impact people in the most productive years of their lives and result in social and economic consequences. Another important aspect is that comorbid conditions like diabetes, obesity, and heart diseases are high-risk conditions for COVID-19 and hence proper management to keep them in control are vital especially in this situation."
"While exposure to the SARS-Cov-2 virus remains the most decisive factor determining the chances of getting COVID-19, other possible factors may influence the response to infection. These risk factors include reduced immunity, presence of existing comorbidities, and age. The genetic variants can influence the response to COVID-19 by regulating the immune function that can make an individual less or more vulnerable than others.
Therefore, people must understand the value of prevention and continue to invest in timely and routine examination to monitor comorbidities and keep them at bay", added Mr Amol Naikawadi, JMD Indus Health Plus.
The trend report highlights that females are prone to vitamin B12 deficiency (22%), anemia (18%), obesity (13%) as compared to males. Males are at higher risk of diabetes (29%) and heart ailments (12%).
Health means physical, social, mental wellbeing with absence from diseases. Therefore, ensure regular health checkups and follow-ups, personalized diet, and lifestyle goals need to be set and followed, keep the immunity level strong to ensure protection from diseases. The main focus of people should be on wellness and prevention of lifestyle diseases and to create a culture of healthy living among the younger generation. The best way to minimize the cost of treating lifestyle diseases is to invest in preventive healthcare, which accounts for fraction of the money spent on curative steps.
