A year later and our Facebook homepage posts are still filled with heartache by friends and family who are experiencing illnesses and life changing disabilities due to chronic disease. Our instantaneous world connection delivers not only the triumphs but the shares of how chronic disease has now touched more of our lives worldwide than ever before.
A Known Threat
This threat of chronic diseases is no longer a threat but now declared by the World Health Organization as the number one killer on the planet. Chronic disease is now the cause of over sixty percent of deaths worldwide which is up 10% from last year alone.
Alarming Facts By the World Health Organization:
- Chronic diseases are now the leading cause of death and disability worldwide.
- Noncommunicable conditions, including cardiovascular diseases (CVD), diabetes, obesity, cancer and respiratory diseases, now account for 59% of the 57 million deaths annually and 46% of the global burden of disease.
- High-risk factors – high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, and alcohol – cause the majority of the chronic disease burden.
- A change in dietary habits, physical activity, and tobacco control, have a significant impact on reducing the rates of these chronic diseases, often in a relatively short time.
- Heart attacks and strokes kill about 12 million people every year; another 3.9 million die from hypertensive and other heart conditions.
- More than one billion adults worldwide are overweight; at least 300 million of them are clinically obese.
- About 75% of CVD can be attributed to the majority risks: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, low fruit and vegetable intake, inactive lifestyle and tobacco.
- Sustained behavioral interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing population risk factors.
Welcome To Another 21st Century Lifestyle Choice
Chronic diseases include things like heart disease and strokes, cancer, diabetes, arthritis and dementia, and many others. These diseases are widely understood to be the result of our modern lifestyle choices. Over the past several decades, research has shown that these chronic illnesses are preventable in large part if we learn to make different choices. In other words, if we live differently.
Unfortunately, today people worldwide are consuming more foods that are energy-dense – high in sugar and/or saturated fats – or excessively salty. This nutritional shift to fast and processed foods in combination with our sedentary behavior is occurring at an alarming rate.
Predictions for the future are that this chronic illness crisis, as bad as it is today, will get much worse. Cancer rates have been predicted to go up by 50% by the year 2020 and one in three children born in the USA today will develop diabetes. As other research continues, it only highlights more that our toxic modern lifestyle is the cause.
Still the Best Cure is Prevention
As you know, prevention is the best cure. With today’s knowledge of identifying the cause, our expert team is here to help you change and build for a healthier future. We want to help you create a better lifestyle which includes what you think, what you eat, and how you use your body.
If you are currently suffering from a chronic disease, please do not hesitate to call us. We are here to help and look forward to posting your new lease on life success story! SHARE!!
For Your Health,
Dr. Steven M. Gillis
