Politics, sheesh, it's a trenchmire, and I ain't going there, other than to say our health system is always a vigorously debated topic at election time, and the narrative never seems to change.
But what say we could change the narrative?
The world is facing a tsunami of chronic disease. Modern lifestyles are driving up rates of Type 2 diabetes, dementia, cardiovascular disease, depression and more. In many high-income populations, half of adults live with at least one chronic condition, and similar patterns are emerging in developing countries.
A review just published in Medicine Bulletin pulls together evidence on what works, from stopping disease before it starts, to living well once you have a condition.
Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer among preventable chronic diseases, followed by cancer (some forms), lung disease and diabetes. What the review highlighted was that ~90% of heart attack risk comes down to nine changeable risk factors: diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol, blood pressure, weight, blood sugar, cholesterol and stress.
Prevention is a goldmine
In a landmark Diabetes Prevention Program, people at risk of diabetes who did 150 minutes of exercise a week and lost 7% of their body weight reduced their chances of developing Type 2 diabetes by 58%. These are better rates than the diabetes drug metformin (31%). Follow-up studies in Finland and China showed the benefit lasts more than a decade.
Vaccines are an important part of the equation too: hepatitis B jabs have slashed liver cancer rates, and in Australia HPV vaccination plus screening is expected to reduce cervical cancer to below four cases per 100,000 women. Even taxes help: levies on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks return an estimated $7 for every $1 spent.
When it comes to politics, we need to focus on the long game: coordinated healthcare, patients empowered to drive lifestyle changes, remote monitoring (one trial cut heart failure deaths by nearly a third), and ensuring disadvantaged people are not left behind by the digital shift.
So yes, the narrative can change. Preventative health needs commitment and funding to reduce the burden on hospital care. Go back to that list of nine changeable factors: diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol, blood pressure, weight, blood sugar, cholesterol, stress, and most of the answers are in your hands. Small steps every day; that's what Zestt is built on. And it's never too late to start, no matter how small the step.