Chronic Disease Research Paper

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2015, June 20). Exercise and chronic disease: Get the facts. Retrieved from

The publics idea of health has evolved over the decades, similar to fashion in that it is continuously morphing and even trends have resurrected with new twists. Recent developments have seen widespread awareness of the importance of regular exercise and many benefits of a balanced diet. Yet despite the plethora of health and fitness methods and resources, the general population has never been so physically sedentary and out of shape. According to the national center for health statistics, America life expectancy has declined despite advances in the fitness industry, concerns over secondary conditions such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes has created an urgency of public health officials as they try to mandate new strategies to fight this national epidemic.

As a former college athlete and the daughter of a veteran, I was always infatuated with the idea of staying physically fit. However, when I began working as a medical scribe at a Family Medicine clinic and interacting with many patients living with a pattern of chronic illnesses such as Diabetes Mellitus and Coronary Artery Disease, I realized that many people did not share these same ideas and passion for physical activity and disease and injury prevention. Talking to these patients and their families, I realized that most of their diseases were life threatening and costly, yet what if these patients had taken steps to prevent their illnesses through exercise and diet, would heart disease still be the leading cause of death in the U.S. today? If we could lessen tobacco prevalence,

of physical exertion. Regular physical activity has significant health benefits, and even modest increases in energy expenditure can have health enhancing effects.

The highest leading cause of death for men and women within the United States is heart disease. The number of deaths for heart disease is 611,105; this is more than half of a million lives being claimed by heart disease. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Leading Causes of Death). This disease tends to be preventable, even though it’s the highest cause of death. In order to prevent one self from having a heart disease, individuals should take the right precautions throughout their everyday lives to reduce the risk of contracting different types of heart diseases; one of the best ways to prevent heart diseases is to engage in exercise. Heart disease involves the blood vessels becoming narrow in the body, which causes restriction

Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are a growing problem around the world today. Not only do diseases such as diabetes and heart disease affect individuals and their lifestyles, they also affect the economy, politics, education and the professional work environment. 20-26% of individuals in the United States live with heart disease, and obesity and high blood pressure compose the greatest factors for developing this disease [20]. Studies have shown a direct correlation between the amount of sedentary time and cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk, regardless of baseline measurements [20]. Thus, increase in physical activity will decrease cardiometabolic risk factors [8]. Several studies indicate a positive correlation between physical activity and decreased cardiometabolic risk markers [2,4,11,16]. However, we now know that an individual who is getting the recommended physical activity per day can still have a large amount of sedentary time.

Exercise and physical activity are a great way to feel better, gain health benefits and have more energy (summarize main points)

The leading causes of death in the United States is heart disease. Heart disease is classified as a chronic disease. Chronic diseases are long-lasting conditions that can be controlled but not cured. Overall chronic diseases account for about 70% of deaths in the United States. The most common examples of chronic diseases include diabetes, heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, and high blood pressure. Though chronic diseases are shown to be the major cause of death around the world, they can easily be prevented. One of the easiest ways to prevent majority of chronic diseases is to exercise (The Center for Managing Chronic Disease). By exercising at a minimum of 20 minutes a day at a moderate intensity people can reduce the risks of developing a chronic disease therefore increasing their life expectancy.

When reading this article, it sets out to introduce the crucial role that daily physical activity does for the body and how it relates to gene. At one point in time, physical inactivity and a poor diet was not considered to be a cause of chronic diseases. In today’s times though, the CDC declared that it is an actual cause of chronic disease and is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., at 12.5%. What is startling and well-known, is that many chronic diseases such as type II diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers can be prevented with exercise, yet so many people don’t.

The benefits of physical exercise in humans far outweighs the harmful effects associated with exercise. A prescription of physical activity has been known to delay the onset or prevention of many chronic diseases. An improvement in heart function, lower blood pressure and improve functional capacity is noticed after just a few weeks of exercising. Physical activity will also result in an increase of lean muscle mass, promote weight maintenance, increased flexibility, and a generally stronger more fit individual. Conversely, exercise when preformed strenuously or obsessively can counteract such positive effects, bringing up some issues like oxidative stresses, injuries, and

Chronic disease is defined as any non-life threatening medical affliction that persists over a long period of time with typically slow progression and frequent reoccurrence. These conditions, (which are influenced by the patient’s socioeconomic status, level of education, employment and living conditions), include, but are not limited to; diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, arthritis, obesity, and cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control, chronic diseases are the number one cause of death in the United States where one in four Americans are living with multiple chronic disease diagnoses, which increases to three in four Americans when the demographic is aged 65 and older. The role of the primary care/family medicine physician is crucial in managing (and preventing) patients’ chronic illness as they are able to develop a long term personal relationship with the patient and

Physical Activity is undeniably good for everyone, not only does it keep you fit and healthy but when started at a young age, it can set up good habits for life. Sometimes however, people do not take care of their physical wellbeing, resulting in obesity and other eating disorders which can be detrimental to their health.

Adding exercises into one’s daily routines can change their whole lifestyle. Many people look at exercise as being something just for people who want to lose weight or to become muscle bound, but there are a great deal of benefits that can be received from exercising regularly. Of course gaining muscle and losing fat are the two most popular reasons that usually attract people to the gym, but they make up a small part of the potential benefits that can be achieved with exercise. There are several ways in which I have benefited in my life from exercising regularly, besides just making me bigger and stronger. It has made me become more organized, helped me make better decisions, and motivated me to take on new challenges in life.

Physical inactivity has been known to result in health consequences like obesity and heart diseases. 70%of US health costs are due to obesity associated diseases (Levine, 2011). Coronary artery disease is the most common type of heart disease estimated to killing about 385,000 people in the America annually. Coronary Artery Disease statistically, is the most prevalent cause of death in American for both men and women, causing 600,000 deaths annually, which comes to about 1 in every 4 deaths, males > females. The estimated economic cost of Coronary artery disease in the United States is $109 billion per annum. Which will also include costs of medications, ER admissions and healthcare services (Cassar, Gersh, Holmes, & Rihal, 2009).

Developing healthy behaviors can lead to a healthier lifestyle, but living a healthier life is an ongoing process. Oftentimes people believe that they have achieved a healthy lifestyle once they have fixed one specific health problem, but this is simply not true. In order to develop and achieve a healthy lifestyle, it is pertinent to devote time creating healthy behaviors that can be maintained over an extended period of time or indefinitely. Moreover, individuals must recognize that their nutrition and physical activity can impact their health. Individuals who participate in regular physical activity will see numerous benefits to not only their short-term health, but also their long-term health. On the other hand, individuals who live a relatively inactive or sedentary lifestyle can see an “increase in the incidence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases” (Hoeger, et al. 3). Furthermore, the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have conducted studies that have found that “almost 80 percent of the latter deaths could be prevented through a healthy lifestyle program” (Hoeger, et al. 3).