Atleast 81% of the respondents had a high prevalence of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Mumbaikars — mainly among the middle and upper-middle-class sections of society — carry a high risk of contracting lifestyle diseases, shows a survey conducted by an NGO in Mumbai. The data, which was compiled by Narmada Kidney Foundation (NKF) through various health camps in the city in 2015, surveyed around 9,000 people.
"Our survey found that 81% of the respondents had a high prevalence of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. These are high-risk factors for diseases like kidney failure, coronary heart disease etc," said Dr Bharat Shah, a nephrologist and managing trustee of NKF.
He said that the most worrying fact that the survey revealed is that many people were not aware of their diabetes and hypertensive status. "About 20% of diabetic patients were unaware about having diabetes while 43% of known diabetes patients had uncontrolled sugar levels. Also, 40% were unaware of having high blood pressure (BP) while 47% of known hypertensives had uncontrolled BP. This is really worrying since, if not treated in time, these diseases can land people with serious health complications," Shah said.
He said that NKF checks almost 70 to 80 people every month through such camps. "The health camps are conducted in housing societies, corporate offices and other such institutions," Shah added.
The foundation has been involved in studying such symptoms for the past 20 years and has been taking surveys to create awareness about lifestyle diseases. "Lifestyle plays a major role in deciding the proper functioning of organs. It is important to have a stable as well as healthy lifestyle in order to have healthy organs. It is important to educate people on the preventive measures," Shah said.
He added, "Earlier, I used to observe such symptoms among the late 50 and early 60-year-olds. However, now I see that people in the age group of 30 to 40 years are also contracting such diseases."
While explaining how uncontrolled blood pressure can have an effect on the human body, Dr Shruti Tapiawala, nephrologist, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, said: "High blood pressure affects the different organs of the body such as the kidneys, heart, brain etc. Lifestyle changes, like leading a sedentary lifestyle, consuming processed food and not exercising could lead to diseases like diabetes, hypertension and obesity. These diseases are all interconnected."
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