Rural Health Challenges: Understanding Lifestyle Diseases in Rural India

Individuals in rural India are burdened with multiple challenges, including poor infrastructure, limited opportunities, poverty and more. In recent years, this burden has increased with the rise in lifestyle diseases. Lifestyle diseases are chronic diseases primarily caused by daily habits and routine.

A study done by the International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health in 2017 shows that the presence of lifestyle diseases was 37% for 108 people studied, since then, their prevalence has continued to rise. There are numerous existing diseases, and to hence understand these diseases and prevent them, it is crucial to first be aware of them.

What are Common Lifestyle Diseases?:

Numerous lifestyle diseases exist globally, yet a select few have plagued rural India and been the cause of the majority of the deaths.

Hypertension: Hypertension or high blood pressure is caused by the high pressure of blood against artery walls, hence forcing the heart to work harder to pump blood. Common symptoms of hypertension include chest pains, dizziness, severe headaches, heart palpitations, blurred vision and fatigue.
Diabetes: Diabetes is a condition that occurs due to high blood sugar levels. It is caused by the insufficient production of insulin or ineffective use of insulin. A few symptoms of diabetes are a dry mouth, increased thirst, fatigue, blurred vision, and weight loss among others.
Cardiovascular Diseases: Cardiovascular diseases are those which affect your heart and blood vessels. Symptoms of cardiovascular diseases include chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness and fatigue.
Stroke: Strokes occur when a blood clot or broken vessel prevents blood from reaching your brain. A stroke's symptoms differ based on the area of your brain it affects. You may face, trouble speaking, blurred vision, confusion, a coma, dizziness, headaches and memory loss to name a few.
Lung Disease: A general term for conditions affecting your airways or tissue that makes up the lung. A few common symptoms of most lung diseases are, coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, fatigue and chest pain.
Chronic Kidney Disease: A disease that damages and makes the functioning of your kidneys less efficient. Symptoms include, frequent need to pee, weakness, less of appetite, swelling of hands and feet, puffy eyes and shortness of breath.
Cancer: Occurs when normal cells become cancerous and multiply uncontrollably. The symptoms of cancer are, fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, night sweats, skin changes like moles, persistent pain and weight loss.
Mental Health Disorders: A condition that affects the way you think and behave. Mental health disorders also affect your emotions and their regulation. Mental health disorders have numerous symptoms, common ones include, changes in behavior, changes in appetite, difficulty in identifying reality, excessive anxiety and mood swings.

These diseases can cause severe harm to lives and communities, in 2021 they accounted for 74% of all global deaths. Therefore, changing lifestyle habits in order to prevent lifestyle diseases becomes a necessity for survival.

Ways to Prevent Lifestyle diseases:

The prevention of lifestyle diseases depends on breaking the cycle of bad habits and routines. Many daily practices may seem harmless, but when done excessively can often lead to life changing diseases. There are 8 healthy lifestyle recommendations that can help alter daily routine to help individuals lead better lives.

Adopt a Healthy Diet: Managing Carbohydrate intake can regulate blood sugar levels and avoid diabetes and obesity. Sufficient consumption of protein promotes muscle growth and manages weight which can prevent cardiovascular diseases.
Regular Exercise: Regular exercise helps manage weight which can hence help avoid obesity, heart conditions and diabetes.
Hydration: Sufficient hydration helps support cardiovascular health. For example, it helps prevent kidney stones.
Vitamin D Consumption: Adequate intake of vitamin D can prevent cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and promote mental health.
Restorative Sleep: Lack of sleep has been connected to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Along with that restorative sleep has been known to assist in mental health.
Avoid Smoking: The habit of smoking has been known to increase chances of contracting lung diseases, lung cancer, oral cancer and heart diseases or strokes.
Stress Management: Management of stress through acts like meditation can help aid mental health and gain better sleep as well as regulate blood pressure.
Avoid Substance Use: Substance abuse is detrimental for mental health and damages your brain, liver and heart.

Bad habits tend to be overlooked by individuals and are thought to be harmless. Yet, tobacco usage accounts for up to 1 million deaths in India annually, and a significant portion of these deaths originate in the rural areas, where rates for smoking are higher.

A study done by the National Institute of Health shows that among elderly in rural India, the prevalence of smoking was 72% in men. Habits that seem harmless have serious long-term consequences. The simple act of smoking is the root of lung cancer, a disease causing around 60,000 - 70,000 deaths annually in India. These deaths are linked to lifestyle choices, but this does not need to continue. These habits can be changed, and in doing so, lives can be saved.

What are Common Lifestyle Diseases?:

Ways to Prevent Lifestyle diseases:

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