The Old Cure: As lifestyle diseases surge in India, the best remedy remains what it always was

 Infectious diseases have come down, say the findings of a National Sample Survey round on health conducted from January to December 2025. On the other hand, metabolic disorders like diabetes and heart disease have risen. A 15-day period sample showed heart and metabolic diseases being 50 per cent of reported illnesses, up from 31 per cent in previous surveys, according to one media re­port. Up to about a century ago, infectious diseases were the main killers of mankind, and average lifespans were in the 30s and 40s. Antibiotics, sanitation, and vaccines changed that. People now die more of heart attacks and cancers sim­ply because they live longer and have to die of something. The body’s mechanism will eventually wear out, and these are the diseases that come with the expiry label.

But over the last half-century or so, these ailments have metamorphosed. Human beings are increasingly younger when they get them, and lifespans are be­ing maintained only because medicine is advancing. You, however, can’t say the same about the quality of life. Take the advent of anti-obesity medica­tions like Ozempic and Mounjaro. They are highly effective for weight loss. Not being obese is good, and the body might be healthier, but that is still no guarantee for feeling healthy.

The simplest route to that is the time-tested way—nu­tritious food, fewer carbs and sweets, moderation in diet, giving up vices, exercise, and weight training, especially as you grow older. None of this is a guarantee against disease and death, but it almost always means a better experience of life. To be healthy in body in this fashion is to have a pal­pable perception of health daily. The feeling of a high after a strenuous workout is not an illusion but real physiological changes, making you feel good about yourself.

India is having a crisis of lifestyle disorders because the majority of Indians don’t make any of these behaviour changes.

Most are just unaware. To get anything of great value requires a certain degree of effort, at least in the beginning. It will become a habit eventually, and the rewards get automated.