Does Lifestyle impact Health

Lifestyle can be termed as the characteristics of people of a region in special time and place encompassing day to day behaviours and functions of individuals in their various walks of life.  

Surveys suggest 60% of related factors to individual health and quality of life are correlated to lifestyle as a large number of people follow unhealthy lifestyle resulting in multiple ailments and serious health complications. Problems like metabolic diseases, joint and skeletal problems, cardio-vascular diseases, hypertension, overweight, violence and so on, can be at times be attributed to an unhealthy lifestyle.

With the passage of time, substantial changes have occurred in our lives. For example, unhealthy diet, erratic eating habits, smoking, alcohol consuming, drug abuse, stress etc are the presentations of unhealthy life style that they are used as dominant form of lifestyle as also people face new challenges. For instance, emerging new technologies within IT such as the internet and virtual communication networks, lead our world to a major challenge that threatens the physical and mental health of individuals. The challenge is the overuse and misuse of the technology.

Available studies suggest that lifestyle has a significant influence on physical and mental health of human being. There are different forms of such influences. Consanguinity in some ethnicity is a dominant form of life style that it leads to the genetic disorders. Reformation of this unhealthy lifestyle is a preventing factor for decreasing the rate of genetic diseases. In some countries, the overuse of drugs is a major unhealthy lifestyle. Also, in 15–40% of cases people use medications without prescription. While self-medications such as antibiotics can have a negative effect on the immune system, if the individual would be affected by infection, antibiotics will not be effective in treatment. Overall, 10 percent of those who are self-medicated will experience severe complications such as drug resistance. Sometimes drug allergy is so severe that it can cause death.

In nutshell, variables of lifestyle that influence health can be categorized as follows:

1.     Diet and Body Mass Index (BMI): Diet is the greatest factor in lifestyle and has a direct and positive relation with health. Poor diet and its consequences like obesity is the common healthy problem in urban societies. Unhealthy lifestyle can be measured by BMI. Urban lifestyle leads to the nutrition problems like using fast foods and poor foods, increasing problems like cardiovascular.

2.     Exercise: For treating general health problems, the exercise is included in life style. The continuous exercise along with a healthy diet increases the health. Some studies stress on the relation of active life style with happiness.

3.     Sleep: One of the bases of healthy life is the sleep. Sleep cannot be apart from life. Sleep disorders have several social, psychological, economical and healthy consequences. Lifestyle may affect sleep as it has a clear influence on mental and physical health.

4.     Sexual behaviour: Many term normal sex relation as necessary in healthy life. Dysfunction of sex relation is the problem of most of societies and it has a significant effect on mental and physical health. It can be said that dysfunctional sex relation may result in various family problems or sex related illnesses.

5.     Substance abuse: Addiction is considered as an unhealthy life style. Smoking and using other substances may result in various problems; cardiovascular disease, asthma, cancer, brain injury.

6.     Medication abuse: Unhealthy behaviours in using medication are self-treatment, sharing medication, using medications without prescription, prescribing too many drugs, prescribing the large number of each drug, unnecessary drugs, bad handwriting in prescription, disregard to the contradictory drugs, disregard to harmful effects of drugs, not explaining the effects of drugs.

7.     Application of modern technologies: Advanced technology facilitates the life of human beings. Misuse of technology may result in unpleasant consequences. For example, using of computer and other devices for long hours, may affect the pattern of sleep and it may disturb sleep. Addiction to use mobile phone is related to depression symptoms.

8.     Recreation: Leisure pass time is a sub factor of life style. Neglecting leisure can bring negative consequences. With disorganized planning and unhealthy leisure, people endanger their health.

9.  Study: Study is the exercise of soul. Placing study as a factor in lifestyle may lead to more physical and mental health. With a look at existing studies in health domain, 9 key factors can be suggested for healthy life style . In regard to each factor, the systematic planning in micro and macro level can be established. It can provide a social and individual healthy lifestyle.

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*Disclaimer: The article is suggestive in nature and may have varied impact on individuals and it does not in any manner claims an alternative to doctor’s advice.