By Eulalee Thompson
Have you ever met someone with the infectious disease yaws? Most people, especially the younger ones, would say 'no'. But, do you know anyone with diabetes, hypertension or heart disease? Most people should say 'yes'. The disease profile has shifted the chronic, lifestyle diseases are in.
THE 1900s Jamaica's main health and medical concerns... yaws, smallpox, malaria, rabies, the plague, poliomyelitis, measles... The 1955 Handbook of Jamaica notes that "concentrated attention has been given to such major health problems as venereal diseases, tuberculosis, yaws and malaria". Mobile Health Units were travelling door to door, throughout the parishes, administering to contacts long-lasting penicillin against yaws (small tumours on the skin covered by a yellow crust of dried serum).
Step into the 21st century leading causes of death...cerebrovascular disease (brain haemorrhage, stroke, heart disease), diabetes mellitus, hypertension, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), some forms of cancer.
The disease profile has shifted. In the early years of the last century health professionals were battling the infectious (communicable) diseases. They have managed well. Thanks to public health work and immunisation, many of these diseases have been eradicated and people are living longer.
In this century, the health battle is on a new front, fighting against chronic, lifestyle diseases. The strategy has to change. Epidemiologists say that patterns of living have changed in the last 50 years or so and this change is contributing to the new disease profile. These scientists point to a decrease in physical activity as more people interface with more advanced technology and automated equipment; more people are living in more urbanised communities and this feeds into a widespread change of social values and norms.
There is no injection needle to administer a vaccine that will guard against these diseases; but various research studies are indicating that they can be tackled through lifestyle changes. Hence, the recent Ocho Rios launch of a healthy lifestyle campaign by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the Ministry of Health.
What are the lifestyle components negatively impacting health? Physical inactivity, high-risk sexual behaviours, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, smoking too much, driving too fast and of course, poor nutrition (eating too much fats, sugar and salt).
Physical inactivity, the studies are indicating, is a major risk factor for chronic illnesses. Regular exercise helps to prevent the development of diabetes, controls weight gain and reduces hypertension all risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Health Ministry statistics also indicate that less fit persons have a 30 to 50 per cent greater risk of developing hypertension and are at risk for cardiovascular disease. In fact, researchers are ranking physical inactivity as a significant risk factor for cardiovacular disease standing shoulder-to-shoulder with cigarette smoking, high blood pressure and abnormal blood cholesterol levels.
Physical activity is not only important in the prevention of chronic diseases but also in their management. The Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) notes for example, that physical activity allows the body to burn excess food that would normally be stored as fat and in the case of diabetes mellitus management, activity will help the body to use insulin and to lower the level of blood sugar; physical activity will also dilate blood vessels in the legs and heart, contributing to health and a sense of well-being.
The irony is that Health Ministry statistics are indicating that as many as 70 per cent of the Jamaican population are physically inactive. This is what all the fuss is about.
