70% population in India affected by New World Syndrome

New World Syndrome occurs due to a radical change in diet and lifestyle from a traditional to a western one

The New World Syndrome affects almost 75 per cent of the world population. New World syndrome is an assemblage of maladies brought on not by microbes or parasites but by the lifestyle and dietary habits. It is a set of non-communicable diseases characterised by obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and shortened life span.

Dr Venugopal Pareek, Bariatric & Laparoscopic Surgeon, Sunshine Hospital, Hyderabad informs New World Syndrome is occurring by a radical change in diet and lifestyle from a traditional to a western one. These foods are rich in fat, salt, sugar, carbohydrates and refined starches, and all of it is imported into the body and causes obesity. Obesity is the major driver for the widely prevalent Diabetes mellitus, Hypertension, Cardiovascular Disease, Breast cancer and Dyslipidemia disorders.

Obesity figures are at a staggering 70 million. In India 70 per cent of India’s urban population comes in obese or overweight category. As per World Health Organisation statistics more than 1.4 billion adults are overweight. Statistics shows that around 20 per cent of school-going children in India are obese, among those 19.2 per cent are boys and 18.1 per cent are girls.

The modern high pressure office jobs and comfort travelling in air conditioned cars and other automobiles have replaced the traditional occupations and walking habit, that is resulting into less physical activity and more brain exertion, another major cause of New World Syndrome.

Dr Rajat Goel, Minimal Access Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgeon, Primus Hospital, New Delhi informs, “Obesity is such a condition where excess of fat get stored in the abdomen. In accordance with body mass index of body, 25 per cent total body fat in men and 30 per cent total body fat in women are considered as obesity. Higher than normal body weight greatly increases the risk of diabetes. Uncontrolled diabetes leads to serious complications such as high BP, heart attacks, brain strokes, blindness, kidney failures and nerve damages with amputations.”

“Other consequence of overweight is obstructive sleep apnea, It is a respiratory problem in which breathing is stopped intermittently during sleep. Besides problem of sleep this results in high BP, heart failure etc. An obese person is prone to gout- a medical problem that affects joints. In gout people have increased uric acid levels which results in painful, red and inflamed joints,” he adds.

Increased body mass index raises the levels of triglycerides and bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body. High level of LDL and low level of HDL are major causes of atherosclerosis which results in narrowing of blood vessels leading to heart attack. Lifetime risk of cancers is also more among obese individuals. They have higher chances of getting bowel, breast and oesophageal cancers.