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Hypertension is taking
its toll on the young generation, the World Health Organisation
has warned. But this may be just the tip of the iceberg with
other lifestyle diseases creeping up to unsuspecting individuals.
TWF Correspondent Tanni Gupta takes a sneak peek at health
problems that are nagging the today-generation, particularly
in India
"Every human being is the author of his own health or
disease"- Lord Buddha
Sonal Bothra, 19, has a series of medical problems that would
make writer Jerome K Jerome and his pals George and Harris
of Three Men in a Boat- the book by Jerome in which the three
friends compete each other to share their list of maladies-
look pale in comparison. Siddhartha Dutta, 21, has a recurring
back problem and an annoying knee joint pain that just won’t
go away. They are just two people of GenerationX who suffer
from a series of medical problems they are usually not associated
with the youth.
Lifestyle has changed drastically for the young Indian; so
has the pattern of disease.
Nowadays, a heart attack in 20s is not so uncommon. Similarly
gastro-intestinal diseases are also taking its toll on people
due to erratic food habits.
Dr Sinha, associate professor of Cardiology in a city medical
college hospital, states that earlier it used to be news when
someone in the 20s had heart ailments. But nowadays it is
not so uncommon. This syndrome has increased by leaps and
bounds in the last few decades.
While Big Mac, Kentucky Fried Chicken and many similar internationally
fast food chains are counting their annual turnovers with
a overflowing cash register, many more are making rounds to
the doctor's chamber for various ailments arising from the
fast lifestyle and the fast food they indulge in every day.
"All these gastro-intestinal diseases start making their
presence felt from the time a person turns 25 ", says
Dr Indraneel Saha, head of Gastro-intestinal department, AMRI
Hospitals, Kolkata.
According to him dyspepsia is common among the youth. This
often happens due to excessive work pressure, stress and food
habits.
Stress is an unavoidable factor in the present lifestyle.
But food habit is mostly self-induced. Youngsters usually
like to gobble the lip-smacking fast food instead of low calorie
and hygienically prepared home-prepared food.
These habits usually lead to obesity and at times even to
infertility. Obese kids and youngsters are quite common these
days. If one does not take care at an early stage the result
could be fatal.
Stress leads to many other diseases like Diabetes Mellitus.
This is increasingly attacking particularly the young Indian
population. The diabetic census of India in 1995 showed 19.4
million suffering from it; the projection for 2025 is 75 to
80 million. Chennai is the diabetes capital of India. Metropolis
Health Services, a well-known diagnostic chain, found through
a survey based on blood samples of 535 women and 735 men that
Indians are more prone to diseases such as heart ailments,
asthma, cancers, nervous and circulatory disorders, diabetes,
hypertension and obesity.
World Health Organisation (WHO) has projected that by 2020
India will be the Diabetes Capital of the world. It also predicts
that by 2010 India will have 100 million heart patients.
WHO has alerted that in the coming days hyper -tension will
start spreading like epidemic if not controlled now.
"Hyper tension, diabetes and obesity are the three modifiable
risk factors. They are the harbinger of many other diseases
in human body. This trend is not only seen in urban areas,
it is equally perceptible in rural areas. We often don’t
hear about it from that zone because the awareness level among
the rural population is less and the medical assistance available
is very limited" says Dr Sinha. Due to these ailments
at an early age, “we are also losing many talents at
an early stage,” he says, adding that a little consciousness
on the part of the patient can increase his longevity. All
these modifiable risk factors overtly or covertly leads to
coronary arterial diseases in the long run.
Stress, diabetes and hyper-tension increases the possibility
of coronary arterial disease by 360 per cent.
Dr Sinha advises doing physical exercise regularly, be it
yoga or free hand, among people of all age groups. Indians
in general do not have the habit of exercising to shed that
extra flab. He especially mentions Indian women who are homemakers;
they should allot some time for exercising because household
work, however much backbreaking it is, does not help to remain
fit.
Excessive smoking and drinking among the younger generation
add to causes for developing heart diseases at an early stage.
Drinking on a regular basis leads to adding up high calorie
in one’s body. Hypertension and smoking increase the
lipid profile in the body, which is also called cholesterol.
High cholesterol also accelerates cardiac problems. Fatty
food also leads to high cholesterol level.
Another inseparable part of modern urban India is the air-conditioner
which in turn stokes many diseases. Too much exposure to air-conditioning
has a snowballing effect on the body. Often people complain
about backache and sinus problems due to continued exposure
to the air-conditioner. People also complain about eye problems
like dry-eye or burning eyes or eye irritations. Exposure
to air-conditioners and constant looking at the computers
are some of the causes for these problems.
Though we cannot really do away with the modern gadgets today,
at least we can take some corrective measures that will help
us to reduce these problems. Like wearing a specially coated
spectacle while working a computer, sitting in the right posture
while working and taking care of our spinal cord can prevent
us from orthopaedic diseases. Eating healthy food can reduce
diabetes and blood pressure level.
Thus it reinstate the words said by Lord Buddha that human
beings are authors of their own health and we should take
care of it to lead a happy and healthy life.
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