HEALTHY LIVING

In India, chronic diseases were the reason for 53% of all the deaths in 2005. Of these 29% were due to cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular diseases includes heart attacks, coronary artery disease and strokes. It is estimated that, by 2020, cardiovascular disease will be the largest cause of disability and death, as a proportion of all deaths in India.
India already has the largest number of people with diabetes in the world! India is the diabetes capital of the world. The occurrence of diabetes in urban Indians is 2nd highest in the world; approximately 12% of the adults develop diabetes!. Not only this, Indians succumb to diabetes and heart attacks 5-10 years earlier than their western counterparts. This means that most indians succumb to heart attacks, strokes and diabetes in their most productive years, when they are 40-50 years, when they are rising in their jobs, when they are peaking in their careers, when much of the family responsibility is on them, rather than their western counterparts who develop it at retirement, at 60-65 years. This will lead to huge economic burdens on the country. All this is due to the fact that Indians consume less of fresh fruits and vegetables, consume more tobacco, consume more unhealthy diets and are more sedentary than their western counterparts. In 2003 alone, in India, there were approx. 30 million people suffering from chronic heart disease.
The major risk factors causing heart attacks, diabetes and strokes are: high blood pressure, high concentration of cholesterol in the blood, inadequate fresh fruits and vegetable consumption everyday, overweight/ obesity and greater use of tobacco. Five of these 6 major risk factors are due to unhealthy diets and physical inactivity. Unhealthy diets and physical inactivity are thus amongst the leading causes of major diseases like coronary heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis. One third of all cancers too can be prevented by embracing a healthy diet, decreasing saturated fats in the diet, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and increasing physical activity levels.
Largest number of tobacco related deaths is also due to heart attacks. Tobacco kills more people than accidents and AIDS put together. In India, tobacco contributes to 56.4% and 44.9% of cancers in men and women, respectively. India has the largest number of oral cancer cases in the world! It is estimated that India as compared to any other country will have the fastest rise in tobacco related deaths each year!

There is also a reversal of the socio-economic trend for cardiovascular disease and diabetes; the poor and the disadvantaged sections of our population have an equal or higher risk of cardiovascular disease and risk factors. To add to this is their unawareness and inappropriate understanding about chronic disease. More than one third of the population with risk factors like diabetes and high blood pressure are not even aware of it!

Through this website we target the major causes of majority of the diseases in India and scientifically prevent them. Additionally, the section on hygiene will help prevent many of the communicable disease/infectious diseases that plague the everyday lives of people today.