Lifestyle diseases pose huge burden in Nigeria healthcare system
To prevent millions of people falling ill and dying from lifestyle disease with the overstretched health systems and pose huge challenge of the Nigeria healthcare system, Larne Yusuf a medical practitioner based in Lagos said cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases often referred to as “lifestyle diseases” because they are mostly related to the way people live their lives and to surrounding environmental factors.
“One of the reasons is because we are all changing our lifestyle of unhealthy diets (foods high in fats, sugar or salt), tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol and physical sedentariness”
Larne cautioned that by healthy diet, exercise and avoidance of tobacco and alcohol and individual should make a good lifestyle choice. He advised that Nigeria should take more vegetables and fruits and less sugar, salt and fats, also avoid tobacco and alcohol and exercising to prevent and control these diseases.
According to the sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number three, this aims to ensure healthy lives and to promote the well-being of people.
Estimated from 2012, around 38 million deaths per year, accounting for 68 per cent of all deaths worldwide, were attributable to non-communicable diseases. Of all deaths among persons under the age of 70, commonly referred to as premature deaths, an estimated 52 per cent were as a result of non-communicable diseases. Over three quarters of premature deaths were caused by cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease.
Unhealthy environmental conditions increase the risk of both non communicable and infectious diseases, which is reflected in the strong integrated nature of the Goals.
Expert says this lifestyle of unhealthy diet has caused millions of Nigerians disease such as high blood pressure, overweight, respiratory diseases, high cholesterol level and it is a huge burden where Malaria, HIV/AIDS tuberculosis and other communicable disease are.
Individuals need to take caution of their lifestyle and carryout more exercises to reduce the blood pressure and curtail the sugar level.
Lifestyle diseases are defined as diseases linked with the way people live their life. This is commonly caused by alcohol, drug and smoking abuse as well as lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating. Diseases that impact on our lifestyle are heart disease, stroke, obesity and type II diabetes. The diseases that appear to increase in frequency as countries become more industrialized and people live longer. They can include Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, atherosclerosis, asthma, cancer, chronic liver disease or cirrhosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, chronic renal failure, osteoporosis, stroke, depression, and obesity.
Some commenters maintain a distinction between diseases of longevity and diseases of civilization. Certain diseases, such as diabetes, dental caries and asthma, appear at greater rates in young populations living in the “western” way; their increased incidence is not related to age, so the terms cannot accurately be used interchangeably for all diseases.
Anthonia Obokoh