- Researchers say people in their late 40s are increasingly having to deal with chronic health issues such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.
- Experts say inflammation and insulin resistance brought on by aging, stress, and diet are two main factors.
- They recommend people eat a well-balanced diet, exercise regularly, and reduce stress.
About 1 in 3 British people in their late 40s have chronic health issues, according to new results from the 1970 British Cohort Study, which periodically tracks the lives of about 17,000 people born in England, Scotland, and Wales.
Of the nearly 8,000 recently surveyed by University College London, 34 percent said they have two or more chronic health issues, such as high blood pressure and mental health concerns, according to the medical journal BMC Public Health.
The most common issue (26 percent) was high-risk alcohol consumption, followed by recurrent back problems (21 percent), mental health concerns (19 percent), and high blood pressure (16 percent). Other issues included arthritis, type 2 diabetes, asthma, and bronchitis.
Experts say it’s not just a British thing, however. The United States is still culturally related to Great Britain, and doctors say they’re seeing some of the same issues there.
“By way of perspective, until a few hundred years ago, most people died by the time they were 45 years old,” said Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, an author and internal medicine specialist in Maryland who specializes in chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.
“Now we’re looking at it being normal to live into one’s 80s. But this does us little good if we’re in horrible health,” he told Healthline.
Source: healthline