A human body is prone to be attacked by diseases during the course of life. Even though some diseases could be avoided or their risks minimised, certain habits detract people from having a healthy lifestyle. Despite knowing the long term effects paused by these habits, some diseases are normalised.

Factors including age, genetics, gender and race make some people become more prone to certain diseases than others. However, most Non communicable diseases (NCDs) could be avoided through lifestyle choices.

A big chunk of the society have normalised being sick and sometimes relate diseases to age groups not wanting to account for their healthy lifestyle negligence.

According to World Health Organisation’s (WHO) report published in April 2021, 71% of all deaths globally are caused by NCDs which is equivalent to 41 million people each year. In Tanzania NCDs account for nearly 30% of all deaths.

“The National NCDS Strategic Plan II (2016-2020) for the Prevention and Control of NCD has been prepared in response to the growing problem of NCDs in Tanzania. It is estimated that NCDs now account for 27% of all deaths,” according to the Strategic and Action Plan 2016-2020.

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD), Blood Pressure (BP), Diabetes, Stroke, Gout, Chronic respiratory diseases and Obesity are some of the diseases that could be controlled by lifestyle choices like exercising, following a healthy diet which includes minimising certain foods that could trigger certain diseases, like regulating your red meat intake and other sources of purine so as to avoid getting gout.

For people with a family history of certain diseases rather than accepting the outcomes and waiting for your turn to get sick, you could start working towards minimising the risks of you getting the disease rather than living a life that triggers these genetic diseases to attack your body.

While some people are born with inherited diseases some acquire them with age. Find out what diseases run in your family, get medical advice on what to do to minimise the risks or avoid the disease completely and find a suitable lifestyle for you to become healthier.

People are not shocked when told that a person in their 30s, 40s or 50s is suffering from diabetes or BP or heart diseases that most could be avoided because these diseases are viewed as normal diseases as you age.

Obesity which involves an excessive amount of body fat could trigger other diseases like CVD , BP, diabetes and certain cancers.

Smoking could trigger lung cancer, stroke and other respiratory diseases. Cigarette adverts come with warnings that smoking is not good for your health yet people continue smoking, risking their health.

As much as these diseases affect a person’s capacity to partake in their daily activities, these diseases weigh down on the person and their families financially when trying to look for a cure, and buying medications to help them push through to the next day.