Lifestyle Diseases

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

As challenging as it can be to hear, we are made up of the sum total of all the choices we have made up until today. Subsequently, if we would like a different result that we are currently getting in life, we need to make some changes.

During the past few years I have been making significant changes in my life – from money to relationships to my career/business. Now it is time to change some aspects of my health. To start this journey, I am going to start looking at lifestyle diseases.

In this post I am going to discuss –

• What are Lifestyle Diseases
• Leading Causes of Death
• Types Lifestyle Diseases
• Causes of Lifestyle Diseases
• So What?

What are Lifestyle Diseases?

There are many definitions of lifestyle diseases, including –

• “A disease associated with the way a person or group of people lives. Lifestyle diseases include atherosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke; obesity and type 2 diabetes; and diseases associated with smoking and alcohol and drug abuse.” ~ MedicineNet.com
• “a disease that potentially can be prevented by changes in diet,environment, and lifestyle, such as heart disease, stroke, obesity, and osteoporosis” ~ Collins Dictionary and Dictionary.com
• “Lifestyle diseases characterise those diseases whose occurrence is primarily based on the daily habits of people and are a result of an inappropriate relationship of people with their environment. The main factors contributing to lifestyle diseases include bad food habits, physical inactivity, wrong body posture, and disturbed biological clock.” ~ National Centre for Biotechnology Information
• “Any condition – e.g., obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, sports injuries, and some cancers – that is attributable, at least in part, to lifestyle choices, e.g., diet, smoking, alcohol and drugs, promiscuity, unsafe sex, exercise, etc.” ~ The Free Dictionary

As you read through these definitions, were there any surprises for you? If so, what were they? Feel free to share below.

Leading Causes of Death

OK, I know it is not great to talk about this stuff, but it is interesting and may help in putting health in perspective. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) the leading causes of death in Australia in 2014 were –

1. Ischaemic heart disease (including angina, blocked arteries of the heart and heart attacks) with 20,173 deaths (13%).
2. Dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease) with 11,965 deaths.
3. Cerebrovascular diseases (include haemorrhages, strokes, infarctions and blocked arteries of the brain) accounted for 10,765 deaths
4. Trachea, bronchus and lung cancers with 8,251 deaths.
5. Chronic lower respiratory diseases with 7,810 deaths.
6. Diabetes with 4,348 deaths.
7. Blood and lymph cancer (including leukaemia) with 4,275 deaths.
8. Colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus cancer with 4,2169 deaths.
9. Heart failure with 3, 447 deaths.
10. Diseases of the urinary system with 3,136 deaths.

Types of Lifestyle Diseases

There are many types of lifestyle diseases including –

• Stroke
• Heart disease
• Asthma
• Obesity
• Depression
• Osteoporosis
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Metabolic syndrome
• Cirrhosis and other diseases of the liver
• Some types of cancer.

Causes of Lifestyle Diseases

There are a number of causes of lifestyle diseases.The most common causes of lifestyle diseases are diet and lifestyle. Some are controllable factors and some are not controllable.

The controllable factors relate to behaviours, habits, thoughts or practices (i.e. we have control over them). Some examples of controllable factors are your behaviours, habits, thoughts or practices around smoking, exercise, drug, alcohol, relationships, sleep, environment and eating.

The uncontrollable factors related to lifestyle diseases include age, race, gender and heredity.

So What?

Now you have read about lifestyle diseases, what have been your insights? Are there any changes you are going to make to your lifestyle, so you live your own version of greatness?

If you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and opening your heart, why not join our Toolkit?

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2014). Causes of Death, Australia, 2014. Accessed here 24/4/16.

AIHW. (2012). Risk factors contributing to chronic disease. Cat. no. PHE 157. Canberra: AIHW.