Lifestyle And Epidemiology

Lifestyle and Epidemiology - The Double Burden of Poverty and Cardiovascular Diseases in African Populations examines the profile of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the rural South African population. The burden of diseases in South Africa is characterized by a combination of poverty-related diseases with emerging NCDs associated with urbanization, industrialization, and a Westernised lifestyle. Chapters in this book examine the effects of poverty, COVID-19, and other social factors on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, reproductive health, and diabetes in rural South Africa.

From reviews of the previous edition:'We still have much to learn if disease patterns are to be explained by taking a life course approach... this book provides strong arguments for this approach... the book is a highly qualified starting point for the debate... it will remain a useful summary of pioneer research of huge potential importance for public health.' -Epidemiology'This is not just another epidemiology textbook. It is essential reading for anyone with an active mind who is interested in public health.' -Journal of Public Health Medicine'A truly exciting and extremely informative endeavour for anyone interested in the determinants of human health and disease. This discussion is at the core of current public health issues.' -European Journal of Public Health'The conclusion is of major importance to public health policy. It reinforces the need for a life course strategy, with attention being paid to the mother, baby, child adolescent, and elderly person.' -BMJ'Provokes thought about the origins of chronic diseases, suggests new approaches to identifying particular susceptible individuals and encourages the identification of optimal points in the life course for possible preventive interventions.' -Chronic Diseases in CanadaThe first edition in 1997 of A life course approach to chronic disease epidemiology became a classic text for epidemiological and public health researchers interested in the childhood origins of adult chronic disease. Since then the new field of life course epidemiology has expanded rapidly, attracting the interest not only of academics across the health and social sciences but also policy makers, funding bodies, and the general public. Its purpose is to study how biological and social factors during gestation, childhood, adolescence and earlier adult life independently, cumulatively and interactively influence later life health and disease.Contributors to this fully revised second edition capture the excitement of the developing field and assess the latest evidence regarding sources of risk to health across the life course and across generations. The original chapters on life course influences on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, blood pressure, respiratory disease and cancer have been updated and extended. New chapters on life course influences on obesity, biological ageing and neuropsychiatric disorders have been added. Life course explanations for disease trends and for socioeconomic differentials in disease risk are given more attention in this new edition, reflecting recent developments in the field. The section on policy implications has been expanded, assessing the role of interventions to improve childhood social circumstances, as well as interventions to improve early growth. Emerging new research themes and the theoretical and methodological challenges facing life course epidemiology are highlighted.Readership: Epidemiologists, public health researchers, public health policy makers for developed and developing countries, sociologists and biologists, psychiatrists and social and chronic disease epidemiologists

Nutritional epidemiology examines dietary or nutritional factors in relation to the occurrence of disease in various populations. It is a fact that substantial progress has been made in recent years in nutritional epidemiology. Compared to the practice during the 1990s, and with the improvements in data analytics, several new approaches are gaining ground. Results from a variety of large-scale studies in the field of nutrition epidemiology have substantially contributed toward the evidence used in guiding dietary recommendations for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, some types of cancer, and other morbidities. In this Special Issue, we would like to bring readers closer to the state-of-the-art in the field by gathering papers covering different aspects of nutrition epidemiology from population-based observational studies. Topics of the submitted articles may, but not necessarily, include eating habits of various populations, especially of those not well-studied, such as in Africa, Oceania, South Americas, immigrants, minorities, as well as a variety of associations between nutrients/foods/food patterns and chronic diseases, like cardiovascular, diabetes, obesity, cancer, etc., and gene–nutrient and epigenome–nutrient interactions related to human health at all ages.

Human sufferings, including deaths, can be reduced or avoided by applying routine principles of hygiene in individuals' lives. Some hygiene routines are purely simple remedies, which are inexpensive, affordable, acceptable and easily accessible. It is evident that change is first enacted from within the mindset of an individual, then transmitted to families, groups and communities, and eventually the mindset of a nation can change creating an environment which is better for everybody to live in. This book contains chapters discussing conditions or diseases that may not be common in the readers' area. Caution as such may never be underestimated considering the fact that we are living in a global village where one can never say 'this does not occur in my area' but rather question, does this occur in my community, why does it occur, who is affected, where and when does it occur and what can be done about it? These questions constitute what epidemiology is all about, and their precise and comprehensive answers can transform lives and help us have the right perceptions for the health challenges we face and accept the possibility of dealing with them directly.

This book shows the important links between social conditions and health and begins to describe the processes through which these health inequalities may be generated. It reviews a range of methodologies that could be used by health researchers in this field and proposes innovative future research directions.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), once thought to be confined primarily to industrialized nations, has emerged as a major health threat in developing countries. Cardiovascular disease now accounts for nearly 30 percent of deaths in low and middle income countries each year, and is accompanied by significant economic repercussions. Yet most governments, global health institutions, and development agencies have largely overlooked CVD as they have invested in health in developing countries. Recognizing the gap between the compelling evidence of the global CVD burden and the investment needed to prevent and control CVD, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) turned to the IOM for advice on how to catalyze change. In this report, the IOM recommends that the NHLBI, development agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and governments work toward two essential goals: creating environments that promote heart healthy lifestyle choices and help reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and building public health infrastructure and health systems with the capacity to implement programs that will effectively detect and reduce risk and manage CVD. To meet these goals, the IOM recommends several steps, including improving cooperation and collaboration; implementing effective and feasible strategies; and informing efforts through research and health surveillance. Without better efforts to promote cardiovascular health, global health as a whole will be undermined.

Dietary habits differ from person to person and usually are determined by cultural habits and traditions that determine lifestyles linked to the socio-demographic characteristics associated with ethnicity. It is known that dietary habits, lifestyle and socio-demographic factors impact human health. Eating disorders, increasing consumption of less-healthy foods, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition, along with other factors, increase risk of diseases such as dyslipidemia, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and various mental disorders. This reprint entitled "Dietary Influence on Nutritional Epidemiology, Public Health and Our Lifestyle", addresses the associations between some dietary patterns, lifestyle and socio-demographic factors, analyzed either separately or in combination, with the risk and management of cardiovascular diseases and mental health problems, such as depression and dementia. This reprint includes nine original articles and one systematic review.