What is Chronic Disease?
Chronic diseases are caused by behavioral, environmental, or genetic risk factors. They are progressive, persist over a long period of time, and/or recur throughout life. These diseases can often be prevented if we start taking care of our health early in life, particularly in our 20s and 30s. However, once chronic diseases develop, there is no cure, but they can be managed with the right attitude and actions as recommended by healthcare professionals, such as your family physician.
The talk covered three of the most common chronic diseases: Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, and Hyperlipidaemia (High Cholesterol). If you have any one of these conditions, you can develop all three, as they often occur together. Once you reach 40 years of age, health issues may begin to arise, and if you are not careful, chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol can start to set in. This can happen despite regular exercise and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, partly due to genetics or environmental factors. Once you have diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, there is no cure, but they can be managed with medication and a healthy lifestyle. You may think your condition is stable and that you don’t need to be on medication if you have already been started on it, but the reason your condition is under control is most probably because of the medication. If you stop taking it, your condition may worsen, so it is important to continue your medication unless directed to otherwise by your doctor. With people living longer now, you may have 20, 30, or 50 years more to live and may have to live that long with a chronic disease. So the goal is to maintain a good quality of life so you can still enjoy it.
High blood pressure can be caused by several factors including thyroid disorders, kidney disease and traditional medication. You should check with your family physician to determine the cause of your high blood pressure. High blood pressure, as well as low blood pressure, can cause fatigue, irritability, headaches and blurry vision.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that can lead to other complications, including issues with the eyes, kidneys, blood flow and nerves. By the time these complications arise, it is often too late. There are many causes of diabetes and family history is also a strong risk factor. It is therefore important to take measures to prevent the disease and manage it once diagnosed with it to prevent complications.
High cholesterol is another major chronic disease. When you have high cholesterol, you may have high LDL (bad cholesterol), low HDL (good cholesterol), and high triglycerides. To manage high cholesterol, you need to lower LDL, increase HDL, and reduce triglycerides.
Once you reach the age of forty, it is best to have an annual health examination to screen for chronic diseases. If you are at high risk for developing these conditions, it is better to start screening earlier. Indians, in particular, are at high risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and hyperlipidaemia.
Lifestyle Modifications
Chronic disease can be prevented or managed well if we can change our behaviour by developing new healthy habits that will improve our health and quality of life.
Some ways of modifying our lifestyle include:
- Restricting salt intake to 5 to 6g per day.
- Moderate alcohol consumption—no more than two standard drinks per day for men and one standard drink per day for women.
- Maintaining a healthy balanced diet. Use brown rice instead of white rice, eat wholemeal bread instead of white bread, drink skimmed or low-fat milk instead of full-fat milk, reduce red meat consumption, eat more fish, and consume plenty of fruits.
Opt for fresh fruit juice or water instead of sweetened drinks.
- Weight Management—Aim to reduce weight to achieve a BMI of less than 23 kg/m².
- Reduce waist circumference to less than 90 cm for men and less than 80 cm for women. Being overweight can restrict movement, affect your mood, and lower your quality of life.
- Exercise regularly—Engage in at least 30-45 minutes of moderate intensity exercise 5-7 days a week, such as walking, jogging, going to the gym, practising yoga, cycling, or swimming. If you don’t like to exercise or are making a start, start with 10-15 minutes of walking 2 to 3 times a week and increase gradually. It will improve your energy levels and metabolism.
- Quit smoking. Smoking is one of the biggest contributors to chronic disease. If you are a smoker, you are at high risk of developing chronic disease. Seek advice and assistance from your doctor to help you to quit smoking.
Key Takeaways
The key takeaways from the health talk are that you need to start taking care of your health at an early age to prevent or delay the onset of chronic diseases. Even if you develop a chronic disease, you can still manage it by taking corrective actions. Lifestyle modifications will help you manage these diseases to a great extent, ensuring you live a good quality of life despite the chronic condition.
Health Talk on Chronic Disease Prevention & Management was presented by Dr Vidhya Dharshini Pillay (Family Physician). The event was organized by the Singapore Ceylon Tamils Association (SCTA)
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