Anthropogenic Pressure and Lifestyle are the Underlying Cause of Pandemic Chronic Diseases

Abstract

Dramatic changes in the environment in recent decades have resulted in low-nutrient food and excessive intake of heavy metals and toxins through air, drinking water, and dietary habits. Non-communicable diseases (NCD), which are responsible for almost 70% of global deaths, are mainly caused by modifiable risk factors. These include behavioral and metabolic risk factors such as unhealthy diet, tobacco smoke and alcohol. Epigenetic factors have high attributable risks of 80% for most NCDs. Xenobiotics such as persistent organic pollutants, food additives and occupational toxicants, together with nutritional deficiencies, contribute to the development of chronic diseases. Precision medicine integrates the individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle of each person for the prevention and treatment of disease. Metabolomics, the quantitative and comprehensive evaluation of metabolites, has emerged as a novel and powerful tool in precision medicine. Analysis of metabolites gives precise data on nutritional deficiencies, metabolic imbalances, environmental toxins, and microbiome conditions and uncovers underlying genetic predispositions that can be modified through diet, lifestyle, supplements or medications. Critical signs of systemic dysfunction at the molecular level can be revealed years before clinical symptoms appear. Thus, through the assessment of the overall health status, early detection of diseases and intervention to restore these deficiencies is feasible. Lifestyle interventions to improve longevity and metabolic balance are being discussed

Keywords

• metabolomics
• diet
• xenobiotics
• chronic disease