New Delhi: The prevalence of metabolic problems such as blood pressure, blood sugar levels and body mass index (BMI) is increasing among people, and this is due to the aging of the population, according to a global study published in The Lancet. Showing the impact of lifestyle changes.
Researchers found that years lost to poor health and premature death (disability-adjusted life years or DALYs) due to these metabolic-related problems increased by nearly 50 percent between 2000 and 2021. .
The researchers also found that people between the ages of 15 and 49 were more likely to have high BMI and blood sugar levels, which are known to increase the risk of developing diabetes. Other risk factors for this age group include high blood pressure and high LDL cholesterol, or “bad” cholesterol.
Michael Brauer, associate professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, said: “Although metabolic in nature, the development of these risk factors is influenced by a variety of lifestyle factors, especially in younger generations.'' “I often receive it,” he said.
“These also indicate that as our population ages, we become more likely to develop these conditions over time,” Brauer said. IHME coordinates the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, “the largest and most comprehensive effort to quantify health loss across space and time.” Researchers comprising the GBD 2021 Risk Factor Collaborators estimated the disease burden and associated health outcomes of 88 risk factors for preventable non-communicable diseases in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2021. announced the value. Disease burden is the impact that health problems have on people. A specific population measured through various indicators such as mortality, disability, and economic costs.
According to the authors, the findings show that targeting modifiable risk factors to address these diseases represents a “huge opportunity to preemptively change the trajectory of global health through policy and education.” It is said that it was shown.
Air pollution from particulate matter (PM), smoking, low birth weight, and short gestational age were also found to be the biggest contributors to DALYs in 2021, with considerable variation by age, gender, and location. There is.
Researchers found that risk factors related to maternal and child health, unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing had the greatest reduction in disease burden, particularly in regions that rank low on the Socio-Demographic Index (SDI). A high rate of decline was observed. .
This suggests that public health measures and humanitarian health efforts over the past three decades have been successful, they said.
However, despite progress, the authors found that regions of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, parts of Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania, as well as North Africa and the Middle East, continue to reduce the burden of disease associated with maternal and child malnutrition. found that it was still high. .
Published May 17, 2024, 11:52 IST
