{"id":10228,"date":"2025-09-26T18:39:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T18:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/?p=10228"},"modified":"2025-09-26T18:39:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T18:39:05","slug":"how-making-lifestyle-changes-can-reduce-the-risk-of-chronic-diseases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/how-making-lifestyle-changes-can-reduce-the-risk-of-chronic-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"How Making Lifestyle Changes Can Reduce the Risk of Chronic Diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2156171364.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10229 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2156171364-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2156171364-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2156171364-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2156171364-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2156171364-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2156171364-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2156171364-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>According to the World Health Organization (WHO), chronic diseases, also known as non-communicable diseases, are conditions that tend to have a long duration and result from a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioral factors.<\/p>\n<p>Chronic diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. These diseases include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cancers<\/li>\n<li>Cardiovascular disease, such as heart attacks and strokes<\/li>\n<li>Chronic respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma<\/li>\n<li>Diabetes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A person\u2019s lifestyle and daily habits can increase their risk of developing a chronic disease. About 80% of chronic diseases are driven by a person\u2019s daily habits. These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tobacco use, including the effects of exposure to second-hand smoke<\/li>\n<li>Unhealthy diets, including excess salt, sugar, and fats<\/li>\n<li>Excessive alcohol use<\/li>\n<li>Insufficient physical activity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These habits can contribute to metabolic changes that can increase a person\u2019s risk of chronic disease, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hypertension<\/li>\n<li>Obesity<\/li>\n<li>Diabetes<\/li>\n<li>High cholesterol<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Making the following lifestyle changes is one of the best ways to address harmful habits and help prevent chronic diseases.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dietary changes include eating whole, unrefined, and minimally processed plants. Eating plant-based foods can help reduce diabetes, heart disease, and the risk of cancer<\/li>\n<li>Increasing physical activity by engaging in a recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week<\/li>\n<li>Getting a good, restful night\u2019s sleep of about seven to nine hours. This can be achieved by:\n<ul>\n<li>Having a consistent bedtime and waking up on time, even on weekends<\/li>\n<li>Being physically active<\/li>\n<li>Limiting alcohol and caffeine<\/li>\n<li>Putting digital devices away 90 minutes before bedtime<\/li>\n<li>Keeping your sleeping area cool, dark, and comfortable<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Reducing stress by practicing mindfulness, meditation, and gratitude can help relieve stress and improve your physical and mental health.<\/li>\n<li>Staying socially connected with friends and family can help keep you emotionally and physically healthy.<\/li>\n<li>Quitting smoking, or never starting, lowers the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and lung disease, as well as premature death<\/li>\n<li>Limiting alcohol use can reduce health risks that excessive drinking can lead to, such as high blood pressure, various cancers, heart disease, stroke, and liver disease<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By avoiding these risks and getting good preventive care, you can improve your chance of staying well, feeling good, and living longer.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on how you can make lifestyle changes, you can schedule an appointment with a doctor at Flushing Hospital Medical Center\u2019s Ambulatory Care Center by calling (718) 670-5486.<\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer\">All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.  Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page.   You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter.<strong>  PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.<\/strong> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the World Health Organization (WHO), chronic diseases, also known as non-communicable diseases, are conditions that tend to have a long duration and result from a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioral factors. Chronic diseases are the leading &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/how-making-lifestyle-changes-can-reduce-the-risk-of-chronic-diseases\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1222,5,1,510,14,474,555,501,4],"tags":[56,217,145,406,139,91,234,508,637,25,2434,2435,503,677],"class_list":["post-10228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diabetes","category-general-health","category-health","category-lifestyle","category-mens-health","category-mental-health","category-nutrition-2","category-obesity-2","category-womens-health","tag-diabetes","tag-exercise","tag-healthyeating","tag-mentalhealth","tag-obesity","tag-quitsmoking","tag-stress","tag-anxiety","tag-heart-disease","tag-high-blood-pressure","tag-how-making-lifestyle-changes-can-reduce-the-risk-of-chronic-diseases","tag-lifestyle-changes","tag-nutrition","tag-prevention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10230,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10228\/revisions\/10230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}