Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In the United States alone, the average lifespan has increased by nearly thirty years in the past 100 years. However, the years gained are being plagued by non-infectious, killer chronic diseases in epidemic proportions, and are increasingly contributing to poor health, and premature death in the middle- and later years, particularly in the US. Americans may be squandering the gains they attained in longevity in the twentieth century by succumbing in the twenty-first century to these preventable, killer chronic diseases, largely attributable to dietary and lifestyle choices.
The rise in incidence and prevalence of major chronic diseases like heart disease, type-2 diabetes, cancer, and obesity, and the steadily rising associated human and economic costs have spurred research into their causes, and risk factors for the past several decades. Researchers have been able to establish evidence-based links between an increased risk for development of one or more of these chronic diseases and exposure to certain environmental, lifestyle, and genetic factors.
Available evidence unequivocally points to the fact that chronic diseases strike people with a particular set of lifestyle choices more often than others who do not make those choices, and as well that adopting healthier choices at any age, and stage of disease progression has proportional benefits. This lifestyle-disease connection makes it possible to not only prevent a chronic disease from setting in, but also to stop it in its tracks when detected early, and even reverse it in some cases.
In this book, the authors explore the evidence-based connection between lifestyle choices and the development and progression of each of the killer chronic diseases, the right lifestyle choices to make and keep for holding the diseases at bay, as well as the regular and effective use of recommended preventive services, for early detection and intervention are addressed in substantial detail. Finally, the case examples contributed by the physician author bring to life the connection between a person's lifestyle choices, exposure to modifiable and non-modifiable risks, and ultimately the development, progression, and outcome of a chronic disease based on lifestyle related risk exposure.The rise in incidence and prevalence of major chronic diseases like heart disease, type-2 diabetes, cancer and obesity, and the steadily rising associated human and economic costs have spurred research into their causes, and risk factors for the past several decades. Researchers have been able to establish evidence-based links between an increased risk for development of one or more of these chronic diseases and exposure to certain environmental, lifestyle, and genetic factors.
Available evidence unequivocally points to the fact that chronic diseases strike people with a particular set of lifestyle choices more often than others who do not make those choices, and as well that adopting healthier choices at any age, and stage of disease progression has proportional benefits. This lifestyle-disease connection makes it possible to not only prevent a chronic disease from setting in, but also to stop it in its tracks when detected early, and even reverse it in some cases.
In this book, the authors explore the evidence-based connection between lifestyle choices and the development and progression of each of the killer chronic diseases, the right lifestyle choices to make and keep for holding the diseases are addressed in substantial detail. Finally, the case examples contributed by the physician author bring to life the connection between a person's lifestyle choices, exposure to modifiable and non-modifiable risks, and ultimately the development, progression, and outcome of a chronic disease based on lifestyle-related risk exposure.