Global rise in chronic diseases combined with Covid-19 bodes ill for world health

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Fri, 2020-10-16 19:37 — mike kraft

Global rise in chronic diseases combined with Covid-19 bodes ill for world health Many countries are not doing enough to decrease the common risk factors associated with chronic diseases, leaving populations vulnerable to health emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic -- that's one of the main messages emerging from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study. Andrea Kane, CNN CNN

CNN)Many countries are not doing enough to decrease the common risk factors associated with chronic diseases, leaving populations vulnerable to health emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic -- that's one of the main messages emerging from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study.

Those risk factors include obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, as well as air pollution, alcohol use and drug use, the team at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, which conducts the study, found.

"One of the most important messages from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 is that over the past decade the world has done a poor job of reducing harmful risks and this is fueling a global chronic disease crisis. While communicable diseases are causing less illness, disability and death than in the past -- with the obvious exception of Covid-19 -- chronic diseases are on the rise," said Emmanuela Gakidou, one of the study's coauthors.

Gakidou said the biggest impact on health has come from a large increase in metabolic risk factors over the last decade. "Collectively, we find that metabolic risks accounted for 20% of total health loss worldwide in 2019," she said. ...

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