AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis: most of us associate these diseases with third world country, and rightfully so. Developing countries account for 95% of the global AIDS prevalence and 98% of active tuberculosis infections. Furthermore, 90% of malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Together, these three diseases account for 10% of global mortality (*). There are the so called Diseases of Poverty, byproduct of the huge world problem of fighting poverty in the world. Therefore we consider ourselves lucky since we live in affluent countries. And yet, with all of our affluence, education, means, and availability of information and resources, we have our own illnesses, diseases of affluence (**):
- type 2 diabetes,
- coronary heart disease,
- cerebrovascular disease,
- peripheral vascular disease,
- obesity,
- certain forms of cancer,
- asthma,
- alcoholism,
- depression,
- allergies,
- as well as a major range of other psychiatric illnesses.
If it sounds like an oxymoron, it is: the richer a country get, the sicker its people. The causes? We all know them: bad food choices, sedentary life, too many harmful chemicals in the environment where we live. Of course, the opposite of the cause is indeed the solution: better food choices, active lifestyle with physical exercise, and more natural environmental choices. However it is so much easier to grab that frozen dinner or pick up the phone and order take out or delivery service of junk-food meals. It is easier to flip through hundreds of channels on TV than to go for a walk, let alone a good run. And every household has a plethora of chemicals, each one with its own use from cleaning the counters, to glass surfaces, furniture and bathrooms. All bad habits, passed on from generation to generation, and perversely taken to new heights each year by the advertisement driven mass media culture.
You can take active and positive action:
- Get information about the connection between your food choices and your wellness, or the lack thereof. A good place to start is The China Study, as well as the other books featured in this blog.
- Join a gym, or start jogging! Walking, jogging, or running are the no-excuses forms of exercises, they are always available no matter where you are, they are inexpensive and require little or no equipment: you do have at least a pair of sneakers, don’t you?
- Change the way you depend on your choice of cleaning products. Karen Logan’s Clean Home Clean Planet is a great starting point
Today, NOW is a great time to start.
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Photography by Jon Feinstein (cc)
(*) Souce: Wikipedia: Diseases of Poverty
(**) Source: Wikipedia: Diseases of Affluence
