Keeping chronic diseases at bay at every stage of life

At every stage of life, nutrition plays a crucial role in healthy aging. The risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, adult-onset diabetes, and thyroid autoimmune disease increases when a pregnant woman is malnourished and gives birth to a low birth weight fetus.

These consequences can also be caused by malnutrition during infancy. Cognitive development can be affected by fetal iodine deficiency and iron deficiency in early childhood. A person’s risk of osteoporosis at an older age is heavily influenced by their bone density at puberty and the amount of calcium and vitamin D they consume throughout their lives.

All dietary and environmental factors affect mortality and morbidity, regardless of predisposing factors. Due to the cumulative effects of adverse factors throughout life, it is particularly critical for older people to adopt lifestyle and dietary practices that reduce the risk of further illness and maximize their prospects for long and healthy life.

A proper diet plays a vital role in the prevention of chronic diseases at each phase of the process.

To decrease the incidence of colorectal cancer, primary prevention entails modifying risk factors, such as increasing fiber consumption and reducing animal fat intake.

The second type of prevention is screening for diseases before they become symptomatic, such as routine testing of serum cholesterol to determine coronary heart disease (CHD) risk, followed by appropriate follow-up intervention, such as reducing animal fat intake or increasing plant food consumption.

Tertiary prevention involves treating and minimizing the complications of a disease once it has occurred. By eating fish weekly and increasing your antioxidant intake, you can reduce your risk of developing a coronary event in the future. Fruits and vegetables in large quantities, as well as antioxidant supplements, could contribute to this.

Despite the effectiveness of nutritional interventions in primary and secondary prevention, early dietary changes are likely to be even more effective. In order to determine an individual’s dietary patterns, the first step should be to identify his or her eating habits. The health practitioner can also identify early signs of chronic diseases and provide nutritional advice and support when diagnostic capabilities are available, appropriate, and affordable. The practice is suitable for older adults with abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance, hypertension, or dyslipidemia. Premature deaths caused by chronic diseases should decrease as awareness of preventive nutrition measures increases.

Coronary heart disease, strokes, cancer, diabetes, influenza, and other infectious diseases are some of the leading causes of death associated with diet. A strong association exists between excessive alcohol consumption and suicide, accidental injury, and chronic liver disease. Several other diseases linked to lifestyle factors are also connected to nutrition and contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality. Smoking and air pollution can exacerbate chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases such as persistent bronchitis and emphysema due to obesity.

Malnutrition further exacerbates the decline in pulmonary function and increases mortality in these patients. Healthcare systems and social and family structures are burdened by the rising prevalence of chronic diseases in aging populations.

These include osteoporotic fractures, visual impairments, arthritis, and dementias caused by vascular or other diseases. Several of these problems have nutritional components, which are slowly being revealed by science. By reducing total and saturated fat intake and increasing plant food intake, one can prevent and manage coronary risk factors, particularly lipoprotein disorders. This will also protect against arterial damage caused by oxidation or other processes.

In addition to cardioprotective effects, several foods contribute to blood pressure control, homocysteine levels, and the electrical stability of cardiac membranes.

Among the potential food, factors are micronutrients such as folate and vitamins B6 and B12, which lower homocysteine levels; n-3 fatty acids, which decrease platelet aggregation and arrhythmia genesis; vitamins C and E, as well as phytochemicals. There are antioxidants for lipoproteins, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and phospholipids in cell membranes.