Reduce your risk of…

Prevention of a disease where possible is far easier than treatment. There is increasing evidence that this is the approach we should all be taking. Professor Muir Gray has articulated this perspective in his “live longer better” campaign (Live longer better). Changes in our lifestyle may not be easy but if we know why we are making changes this can help with our motivation. “The reduce your risk of…. “ series demonstrates how simple lifestyle changes can make a profound difference to our health risks.

“The reduce your risk of…. “ series considers reducing your health risks with medical conditions such as cancer, dementia, and stroke, with life events such as accidents and falls and with your mental health.

The numbers involved as explained further in the pages below are surprisingly high, including annually 2.7 million accidents at home responsible for A&E attendances, 5.5 million people predicted to have diabetes by 2030 and 1.6 million people to have dementia by 2040. The good news is these numbers do not need to be as high as this if we can take action on these risks. There is great support locally to help you reduce these risks and equally information to help you if you would prefer to do this on your own.

There is also a page on Lifestyle changes which while acknowledging how difficult it can be to make changes provides some ideas to support you.