Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is surprisingly common, affecting about one in four adults. Eating processed foods and sugary drinks can increase the risk of developing the disease.
One in three children experiences abuse or neglect. These adverse events increase lifelong risks for chronic diseases and mental health issues, creating a public health hazard hiding in plain sight.
DNA and mRNA vaccines produce a different kind of immune response than traditional vaccines, allowing researchers to tackle some previously unsolvable problems in medicine.
Weight discrimination, like teasing, is common among youth and linked to eating disorders and depression. Youth’s health and well-being would be best supported by not focusing on their weight.
Those directly exposed to toxic dust and trauma on and after 9/11 carry with them a generation of chronic health conditions, which are placing them at higher risk during the pandemic and as they age.
Connecting health apps to health care can enable better care for patients with chronic diseases, and it has the potential to lower skyrocketing US health spending.
While the pandemic has focused the world’s attention on how to prevent infectious disease, many of the lessons learned from COVID-19 prevention can also be applied to chronic disease prevention.
There are many initiatives around Australia designed to keep people with chronic conditions out of hospital. But to take these further, the health system needs a ‘license to innovate’.
‘Long COVID’ – in which people have symptoms lasting more than a few weeks – is turning out to be very common. People hospitalized for COVID-19 are at highest risk, but they aren’t alone.
The rapid rise in diabetes mustn’t be overlooked, as it could have devastating health and economic effects. Most national health systems are already struggling with infectious diseases.
Many more people need long-term specialist care, or are waiting a long time for elective surgery. These and other factors tell us we need to update how specialist referrals work.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
Chercheur au Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec et Professeur titulaire au Département de médecine, Université Laval