Chronic Diseases Account for 88% of Deaths Among Chinese Residents; Unhealthy Lifestyles Are the Main Cause

Yesterday, Lei Zhenglong, deputy director of the National Health Commission, announced at a press conference of the Healthy China Action Promotion Committee that deaths caused by chronic non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes account for 88% of all deaths in China, and the disease burden they cause accounts for over 70% of the total disease burden.

Unhealthy lifestyles are the main cause of these chronic diseases and of the poor results of chronic-disease management, and the price we pay for our unhealthy ways of living is too high. Chinese residents live on average 8 years with illness, which means most residents will spend a low-quality period of survival fighting disease for eight years.

Chronic diseases have a long course and, once contracted, basically accompany a person for life. The treatment of chronic diseases should foster an awareness of chronic-disease management rather than blindly pursuing a cure. The reason China's National Health Commission strongly supports the development of TCM is also that TCM can play a role in chronic-disease management.

But based on my own practical experience, there are still many patients and families who spare no expense, even going bankrupt, in pursuit of a cure for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, COPD, and other chronic conditions. The result is often the opposite: rather than curing the patient, after spending a huge price they accelerate the patient's death. Overtreatment of chronic diseases is very common.

Standardized management of chronic diseases can steadily control the patient's condition, reduce complications, prolong the lives of chronic-disease patients, and improve their quality of life. So advocating prevention of chronic diseases, early detection and treatment, and strengthened chronic-disease management is a more rational and more rewarding choice than pursuing a cure.

While industrialization, urbanization, and modernization promote the development of human civilization, they also make modern people's lifestyles ever unhealthier. Some European research institutes have previously pointed out that human physical evolution has already declined from its peak: the generation after World War II enjoyed the best physical condition in human history, after which it gradually went downhill. The muscles, bones, hearts, and endurance of contemporary people have all degenerated to varying degrees.

So although, with improvements in medical technology, world life expectancy appears to be rising, the added years are mainly low-quality years spent living with illness.

If modern people want to reduce physical suffering and stay away from disease, they should strive to adjust their lifestyles rather than blindly chasing material development.