The Facts about Disease Risk Factors
Filed under: Diet, Drugs, Essays, Mental, Nutrition, Physical, Sex — arlene @ 6:32 pm
There are many different positive life-styles that can reduce the risk of disease.
Many of the factors that contribute to optimal health and quality of life are also considered risk factors. Changing these risk factors can dramatically reduce the risk of hypokinetic diseases such as heart disease, obesity, back pain, and cancer, as well as other diseases such as infections and sexually-transmitted diseases. Lack of exercise, poor nutrition, smoking, abuse of alcohol and other drugs, inability to cope with stress, and poor personal hygiene are all risk factors associated with various diseases.
Not all risk factors can be altered by life-style changes.
Some factors that can contribute to the increased risk of disease are not under your personal control. Four uncontrollable risk factors are: age, heredity, certain disease states, and sex. These factors that cannot be altered by life-style changes are presented in table 19.3.
Death and disease rates from the most common diseases of our culture can be reduced by altering risk factors.
Altering risk factors can help reduce the risk of more than one adverse condition at the same time.
By altering the risk factors that are controllable, you can reduce the risk of several hypokinetic conditions. For example, controlling body fatness reduces the risk of diabetes, hypertension, and back problems. Altering your diet can reduce the chances of developing high levels of blood lipids, and thus reduce the risk of atherosclerosis.
Risk reduction does not guarantee freedom from disease.
Reducing risk alters the probability of disease, but does not assure disease immunity.
Certain heart disease risk factors are considered to be primary.
Some risk factors are more likely to contribute to heart disease than others. These are considered to be primary risk factors. High blood pressure (hypertension), particularly high systolic pressure, high blood fat levels(cholesterol and other fats), and smoking are considered to be primary risk factors. Others noted in the following questionnaire, such as age, exercise, and stress, are considered as secondary risk factors.
More Facts: Guidelines for Healthy Living
In addition to adopting the healthy life-styles already presented, there are some guidelines for healthy living that can help in disease prevention and health promotion. These guidelines are listed as follows:
1. Moderation. In many ways, the things that enrich your life and lead to quality living can also be the source of problems. Some stress (eustress) makes life interesting; too much stress is considered distressful. Regular moderate to vigorous exercise contributes to good health and wellness. Too little or excessive amounts of almost anything can result in problems. A moderate life-style can make life interesting and enjoyable without creating the risk of health problems.
2. Balance. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is a saying that illustrates the problem with an imbalanced life-style. If work is the only focus of your life, it detracts from good health and wellness. A balanced life-style includes interesting work and enjoyable leisure activities that are physically and mentally challenging. Work and leisure activities also can provide social interactions that enhance one’s self-esteem, a necessary component of good health and wellness. Balanced living must provide for physical, social, mental, emotional, and spiritual fitness.
3. Taking Personal Control. As noted earlier, many health problems are associated with health behaviors that can be modified through life-style changes. To make positive life-style changes you must believe that changing your life-style can help you prevent disease and promote good health. If you believe that good health is out of your personal control, you will probably not make life-style changes.
