Health and Well-being

How to Lower the Risks of Non-Communicable Diseases

Insights into shocking stats about non-communicable diseases with five identified risk factors

After giving important background information highlighting the significance of non-communicable diseases affecting millions of people globally, my aim is to create awareness of key risk factors, providing my perspectives on each item.

I posted several articles related to these diseases, so I will not repeat them but link each piece as a reference for details if you want to learn more about them.

Global Effects of Non-Communicable Diseases

Reading stats about non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has deeply concerned me. When I checked the website of the World Health Organization (WHO), I noticed that NCDs kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 71% of all deaths globally.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) also highlights that chronic non-communicable diseases are the number one cause of death and disability.

WHO highlights that “the epidemic of NCDs poses devastating health consequences for individuals, families, and communities, and threatens to overwhelm health systems. The socioeconomic costs associated with NCDs make the prevention and control of these diseases a major development imperative for the 21st century.”

Among the four categories of NCDs, cardiovascular diseases cause more death than any other category. More than 17 million people die because of cardiovascular diseases.

The next category is cancer which kills over nine million people. The third one is respiratory diseases causing the deaths of over four million people. And the last one is diabetes causing 1.5 million deaths.

World Health Organization provides global leadership in creating a data-driven awareness. However, the organization clearly points out that “urgent government action is needed to meet global targets to reduce the burden of NCDs.”

What are Non-Communicable Diseases?

The Pan American Health Organization defined NCDs as “a group of conditions that are not mainly caused by an acute infection, result in long-term health consequences and often create a need for long-term treatment and care.

These conditions include cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic lung illnesses.”

Non-communicable diseases are long-term. Therefore, they are classified as chronic diseases. These chronic conditions include various factors such as physiological, environmental, genetic, and behavioral.

World Health Organization identified four major risk factors for Non-Communicable Diseases. They are tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy diets.

An Overview of Risk Factors for NCDs

To re-iterate for awareness purposes, as documented by WHO, there are four major risk factors for NCDs.

They are tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy diets. I provide my high-level perspectives for each.

Risk #1 — Tobacco Use

Despite the proven harmful effects of smoking cigarettes, millions still smoke. Fortunately, many governments, non-profits, and business organizations took strong measures to control smoking in workplaces and public places.

The human brain is hard-wired for addictions. Addictions create robust neural paths in our brains. The constant repetitions of addictive behavior create solid circuits in the brain. Nicotine in tobacco smoke is addictive.

However, more than nicotine, other myriads of toxic materials in cigarette smoke are harmful to our health.

As mentioned in an article based on my experience with smoking, the brain must be tricked into stopping addictive behavior. It is difficult to end addictions. However, it is possible to eliminate long-term addictive behaviors by understanding thoughts and emotions that can change our addictions.

Over the last two decades, tremendous investment has been made by governments and health organizations to stop smoking.

There is significant support to help addictive people. Awareness of risks and getting help from qualified healthcare professionals can be an excellent start to addressing this well-known risk.

Risk #2 — Physical Inactivity

A comfortable lifestyle in the 21st century made some of us sedentary. Although, unfortunately, physical inactivity adversely affects several health conditions, it is also a significant risk factor for NCDs. This is because the human body and the brain need movement to survive and thrive.

As I point out in previous articles, exercise is an individual matter. Like diet, a single solution does not meet other people’s needs.

Some people naturally work out without medical intervention. However, some of us need medical assessment, advice, and support to include specific types of workouts.

As each person is unique from physiological, biological, genetic, and psychological angles, exercise requires customization for each individual.

In addition, age and sex play a role in choosing appropriate exercise regimes. For example, while some of us prefer cardio, some thrive with resistance training. Some physically active people combine both types of workouts.

However, exercise is not necessarily to be done with a formal approach. We can use daily chores to move our bodies.

Besides, 20 minutes of a moderate-pace walk after main meals can significantly reduce the risk of insulin resistance. Any movement can contribute to our fitness and well-being.

I shared perspectives of centenarians to exercise in the article Six Valuable Health Lessons Learned from Centenarians: Lifestyle habits play a crucial role in healthspan and lifespan.

Risk #3 — Harmful Use of Alcohol

I posted several articles about the harmful use of alcohol. In those articles, I shared my experience and perspectives.

In a recent piece titled Dementia: Perspectives on Korsakoff’s Syndrome & Vitamin B1 Deficiency, I highlighted the importance of reducing health risks for alcohol-related brain damage.

As I pointed out in a recent article, moderation is a misleading term that does not apply to everything. However, experts use moderation as a criterion for alcohol consumption.

In my understanding from the insights of healthcare professionals, the mild use of alcohol is not seen as a risk factor. However, due to other reasons, such as my carbs-intolerance, I choose to abstain from alcohol.

Like other lifestyle choices, alcohol is a personal matter. Some people tolerate it better than others. Some people can control acceptable use of it, but some, unfortunately, get addicted to it.

The critical point is understanding the harmful use of alcohol and consuming it wisely. If addiction is a problem, obtaining advice and support from qualified mental health professionals can be invaluable.

Risk #4 — Unhealthy Diets

Diet is one of the most controversial topics of the 21st century. As it is a personal matter, I refrain from providing my perspectives on specific diets.

However, I’d like to highlight a few fundamental principles for consideration.

First of all, there is not a single diet meeting needs of everyone. We are all unique. Nevertheless, every human body needs certain nutrients called essential ones. They are essential amino acids, essential fats, minerals, vitamins, and calories for energy. We get our calories from carbs, fats, and proteins.

By considering these essential requirements, designing our diets based on our individual needs with the support of healthcare professionals can be a wise approach.

In addition, refraining from unhealthy food, especially carcinogens and inflammatory agents, can reduce the risk of NCDs, especially some cancers.

5 — Other Risk Factors

In addition to these significant risks highlighted by WHO, based on literature reviews, I also identified three other risks related to NCDs, particularly cardiovascular diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases are also associated with the risks of diabetes and cancer. They are insulin resistance, chronic stress, and chronic inflammation, which are part of metabolic syndrome.

I explained these three risk factors in an article titled Three Tips to Improve Cardiovascular Health: Cardiovascular diseases cause one in every four deaths. But the risks can be significantly reduced with healthy lifestyle habits.

Conclusions and Takeaways

The title of my article may sound dramatic. However, I am not dramatizing the situation. The data provides these clear concerns highlighted by global health authorities.

I am a messenger to interpret the data and create awareness of risk factors and prevention methods. Our health is the most crucial asset in life. If we lose it, nothing matters anymore.

The good news is that we know the risks of NCDs. Even better, these five risk factors I mentioned in the article are associated with lifestyle factors. In other words, we can significantly reduce risks by changing our behavior and lifestyle habits.

Getting rid of our destructive behavior and replacing them with more constructive behavior can empower us in our health journey.

Of course, there are genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors. Therefore, some of these conditions might require medical intervention and medication.

Nevertheless, it is possible to reduce health risks with supportive lifestyle habits. Understanding our harmful addictions and replacing them with healthy habits can be an excellent start in this exciting journey.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

I documented guiding content on reducing various disorders.

Here are Five Tips to Prevent Infectious Diseases

Here are Three Tips to Improve Cardiovascular Health

Here are Tips to Address Critical Risks of Metabolic Syndrome

Why I Believe That Cancer Might Be Preventable

Three Lifestyle Habits to Lower Dementia Risks

What Mothers Need to Know About Neonatal Disorders

Finally, how I sustain my health by improving my eating regimen.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

If you are a new reader and find this article valuable, you might check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting on my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments.

Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers

I write about various hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, glutamate, and histamine.

One of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population.

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