Lifestyle-related illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease are on the rise, with younger people increasingly affected, according to Dr Austin Okoth, Chief Medical Officer at RFH Healthcare.
Speaking in an interview with Radio Generation, Dr Okoth said changing diets, low physical activity, and excessive sugar and salt consumption are fueling the surge in these preventable diseases.
“Yeah, it’s a good thing that you know people already know about diabetes and cancer, because those are responsible for a lot of illnesses. The other ones which we need to know about: number one is cardiovascular diseases. I am noticing that more and more we are seeing people who are younger getting hypertension,” Okoth said on Friday.
Dr Okoth explained that lifestyle diseases arise from choices such as physical inactivity and diets high in processed ingredients.
“Number one is how active we are physically, and we are more and more sedentary right now than we used to be… People are not walking as much as they used to walk. People are not engaging in physical exercise as much as used to be the case some time ago,” he said.
High salt intake, often from fast foods, contributes to fluid retention in the body, which raises blood pressure over time.
“When you retain water with pressure spikes… that is what is going to happen. You have high blood pressure that is gradually increasing over time, and if it is not controlled, you develop complications,” he said. Such complications include strokes, heart attacks, and long-term damage to organs.
Sugar intake also plays a major role in the development of diabetes. Dr Okoth described how constant high sugar levels gradually reduce the effectiveness of insulin, the hormone that helps transport sugar from the blood into cells.
“These sugar levels that are high in the system over a sustained period gradually… the receptors are no longer as sensitive to the insulin as they used to be. It drains to a halt eventually, so that you end up with a situation whereby you have high sugar levels, but you cannot absorb those sugars into the cells where they need it,” he explained.
He emphasized that while genetics can influence disease, lifestyle choices remain the main driver of these illnesses.
By addressing physical activity, diet, and consumption of salt and sugar, individuals can reduce their risk of hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes.
Dr Okoth also highlighted chronic respiratory diseases, including bronchitis and bronchiectasis, as emerging lifestyle-related health concerns, reflecting the growing burden of non-communicable diseases in urban populations.
