Indian men prone to lifestyle diseases in their 30s

New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) While men in India are prone to develop lifestyle diseases in their 30s, women tend to develop them a couple of decades later - in their 50s, says a study.

Indian men between the ages of 30-44 years have a high incidence of high LDL --low density lipoprotein, or the so called "bad cholesterol" -- one of the major causes for a variety of lifestyle diseases, showed the findings from the survey by home diagnostic service provider Healthians.

However, for women this high risk becomes a reality once they cross the age of 50 -- the risk being highest between the ages of 50-59.

"These disturbing statistics force us to focus on the sorry state of our work force," Deepak Sahni, Founder and CEO of Healthians, said in a statement.

"India's biggest economic strength is having one of the youngest working populations in the world. However, the health of this valuable asset seems to be balanced on a knife's edge," Sahni added.

The findings are based on a study of more than 4 lakh patients across different age groups and locations conducted over a period of one year.

According to a joint report prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Economic Forum, lifestyle diseases account for almost 60 per cent of deaths worldwide and are responsible for almost 44 per cent of premature deaths.

"The silver lining on this gloomy cloud is the fact that lifestyle diseases are mostly controllable. Some changes in diet, adequate and appropriate exercise and most importantly, regular preventive health check-ups can go a long way in making such statistics far more palatable," said Manjula Sardana, Head of Quality at Healthians.