CHRONIC DISEASES

SREEPRANAD

April 15, 2023

In this science project, we studied over major chronic diseases which was one of the
reasons for major deaths in India and through out the world...! Every one is five people
is diagnosed to have some sort of chronic disease thorough out their lifetime. In fact,
most of the medicines prescribed by the doctors don’t help most of the people to cure
these diseases. It is said that these diseases can’t be cured but controlled. But actually,
it is not so....!

1 Introdution
Diseases like Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Attack and many more - which are called as Chronic
Diseases - are the major reasons for many deaths through out the world. These diseases
tend to occur in older adults. Many people who are diagnosed with Chronic Diseases are
given medicines prescribed by doctors. But for most of the cases, these medicines don’t
work enough to at least control the diseases, though the doctors might prescribe more
additional medicines. Many people of around 45 − 50 years, first find out that they are
diagnosed with Chronic Diseases.

Diabetes occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when
the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regu-
lates blood glucose. About 422 million people worldwide have diabetes. Every year, it
is expected to have 1.5 million deaths through diabetes. In India, there are around 80
million people affected with diabetes which is the highest count though out the world.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels.
It includes heart attack and stroke. Heart attacks and strokes are usually acute events
and are mainly caused by a blockage that prevents blood from flowing to the heart or
brain. It is expected to have 18 million deaths each year, which is the leading cause of
death. Of these, 85% were due to heart attack and stroke. More that half of the people
die after their first heart attack or stroke.

Cancer is the transformation of normal cells into tumour cells in a multi-stage pro-
cess that generally progresses from a pre-cancerous lesion to a malignant tumour. The
estimated number of incident cases of cancer ,in India for the year 2022, was found to be
14, 61, 427. In India, 1 in every 9 people are likely to develop cancer in his/her lifetime.
Lung and breast cancers were the leading sites of cancer. In 2022, there were 8, 08, 558
deaths due to cancer.

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2 Global Statistics
The U.S. has the highest chronic disease burden and an obesity rate that is two times
higher than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
average. It is followed by Canada and China. The U.S. spends more on health care than
any other country. These diseases might have a huge impact on the country’s economy
and development.
In India, it is expected to have 98 million diabetes patients by the year 2030.

Figure 1: Diabetes scale through out the globe

3 Causes
During 1945 − 55, many Americans consumed protein and fat products more that it was
required for average human. Most of these proteins and fats were consumed through
dairy products and animal meat. Most of the people consumed around 5000 − 6, 000
calories per day.

Our body runs only on carbohydrates and proteins aren’t required in large quantity.
An Article written by Padma Bhushan awardees scientists Madhvan T.V. and Gopalan
L.V. (Record Number : 19721301150), which demonstrates an experiment where there
are two groups of mice - into whom daily oral doses of aflatoxin (which basically causes
cancer) were administered to weanling rats for varying periods - and one of these groups
(denoted by HP-High Protein) were fed by 20% casein and the other (denoted by LP-

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Figure 2: Diabetes scale for past couple of years in India

Low Protein) were fed by 5% casein. Of the former 50% developed tumours in other
organs while the remainder showed only precancerous lesions in the liver. None of
the 12 rats on LP showed tumours or precancerous lesions of the liver while only 1
developed a kidney tumour. It is concluded that low levels of dietary protein reduces
or controls cancer in the rat. So, reducing the dietary protein in food might help in
reducing chronic diseases. A human need maximum of protein only during infant age.
It is showed that infants consume only 10g of protein, daily. But, in irony, the Ameri-
can Cancer Society suggests to eat high-protein foods like dairy products, animal meat etc.

Also, many people worry about cholesterol to be a major issue. But cholesterol isn’t
that harmful. From T.Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell ’s The China Study,
it is said that the cholesterol is only used when people eat high inflammable foods like
meat, fast food etc. These foods make the loss of red-blood cells and to recover them,
cholesterol is used.

Dairy products are as much harmful as tobacco products. From the documentary
What the Health, it is said that an egg is as harmful as 5 cigarettes to a human. Chicken
meat is as harmful as red meat. In most of the animal meals sold in U.S., there is a
warning note which is even written in tobacco products.

4 Cure
It is evident that the medicines prescribed by most of the doctors don’t help many people.
Some people even lose faith in medicines.

These diseases can be cured by reducing the amount of dietary protein present and
increasing the fibres and vitamins in their diet. People should avoid (or reduce) having

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Figure 3: Diabetes scale for states in India

dairy and animal products, soft-drinks, alcohol, tobacco and foods which contains ar-
tificial sweeteners. Instead, they should have starch, fibre, fruits and vegetables. The
protein required to the body is already present in the plants-based food which is suggested.

It is suggested to do not take the supplements for vitamins and minerals (even though
they are recommended by physicians) as taking them may make the person deficient in
other vitamins and minerals, other than the exception for vitamin B12 as it is mainly
present in river water and sea plants. People need to take vitamin B12 supplement as the
chlorine added to the water -which we get- kills all the bacteria which contains vitamin
B12.

Consuming refined products like refined oil, refined wheat, refined sugar etc, over a
period of time will cause fatty liver. This issue will later will become a major problem
and might cause to death. Instead, it is suggested to consume whole-plant based food.
Also, it is suggested to consume fruits and vegetable juices which reduces the cholesterol
present in the body.

Instead of having dairy milk, one can consume peanut milk, hazelnut milk, coconut milk,
oats milk and many more varieties. Similarly, one can use peanut butter, hazelnut butter,
cashews butter and many more. One can use dates syrup (or paste) instead of sugar.
These kinds of precautions will definitely help a lot to reduce Chronic diseases in humans.

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An average human should consume 2, 000 − 2, 300 calories, 5 − 7g of protein and fruits
and vegetables of 1% of their body weight to stay healthy.

5 References
• American Cancer Society’s Diet for Cancer Patients:
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/survivorship-during-and-after-treatment/coping/nutrition/once-
treatment-starts.html

• The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell, published by

BenBell Books in 2005.

• What the Health, directed by K. Andersen & K. Kuhn, in Netflix.

• Forks over Knives, directed by L. Fulkerson, in Netflix.

• Times of India’s article on the expectation for 98 million Indian diabetes pa-
tients: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/by-2030-98-million-indians-could-have-
diabetes-india-needs-traditional-diets/articleshow/88763528.cms

• Statistics on Diabetes in India: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8725109/

• WHO’s suggestions on precautions for hypertension: https://www.who.int/india/news/detail/02-

06-2022-india-hypertension-control-initiative–a-high-impact-and-low-cost-solutionz

• WHO’s information on Diabetes: https://www.who.int/india/health-topics/mobile-

technology-for-preventing-ncds