WASHINGTON – The World Health Organization says by the year 2030, 75 percent of all deaths will be caused by lifestyle diseases. These diseases include heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, cancer, liver failure and depression.
“Some people call them a disease of affluence, but truthfully they are diseases of habit, and it comes down to what you’re doing every day,” says Tara Rayburn, health advocate and author of “100 Easy Healthy Habits.”
The main risk factors for these “lifestyle diseases” include tobacco, lack of physical activity, alcohol and a poor diet. However, there are other lifestyle choices that can affect your health.
In her book, Rayburn says habits – from how you wake up in the morning, to what you pack for lunch and how you sit at your desk – can all impact your longevity.
“If everything you do is leading to heart disease, then you need to change it,” Rayburn says. “We can affect our habits; we can change them.”
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