Except for infectious, congenital diseases, and rarer maladies, the most common major illnesses today are caused by four main risk factors, for which I have coined the acronym: TABA, the Filipino word for fat, for easy remembrance. However, in this context, I am not relating it to weight or BMI (Body Mass Index).
T is for Tobacco, A for Alcohol, B for Bad diet, and the second A, for Activity-deficit or Absence of exercise. This acronym itself, TABA, when used to mean fat or overweight, is also a significant factor, since obesity impacts our health negatively, catapulting our risk for major ailments, like hypertension (High Blood Pressure), arthritis, type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.
Even the English word, FAT, could be an applicable acronym: F for Food (quality and quantity), A for Alcohol abuse, T for tobacco use or exposure, and we could add “E” for Exercise deficit, and make it FATE. This also spells the prognosis (fate) of those individuals with an unhealthy lifestyle, which most often means higher morbidity and mortality (more illnesses and shorter life expectancy).
Genes vs. lifestyle
While we know that our genes are also a risk factor, studies have shown that a healthy lifestyle could outplay genetic predisposition, enabling siblings of parents, who are both diabetic and hypertensive, who smoke, drink excessively, eat an unhealthy diet, and do not exercise, to escape diabetes and hypertension simply by living a healthy lifestyle, starting from their teen years.
It is clear that children are not doomed to their elders’ fate, provided they take the healthier path. But if they are a copycat of their parents’ unhealthy behavior and bad habits, obviously, they will fall victim to major illnesses as well. To paraphrase Einstein, we cannot do the exact same things or actions repeatedly and expect a different result.
Killer carbohydrates
When it comes to diet, carbs (rice, bread, sugary desserts, soft drinks, which I call “liquid candy,” and other sweets) are food items we must minimize to maintain our weight and good health. Rice contributes to high triglyceride levels, obesity, and increased risk for diabetes, heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and even cancer, and overall morbidity and mortality rates.
Repeat: Soft drinks as a whole, regular or diet, cola or uncola, caffeinated or not, are all toxic to our body, especially to children. They extremely increase the risk for metabolic illnesses.
Sixty percent of the world’s diabetic population is Asian. Asians have a higher risk of T2 diabetes compared to those with European ancestry. More than 7 million Filipinos have T2 diabetes. Our staple food, rice, appears to be a major culprit, not to mention the lack of exercise.
The Filipinos (even those with normal weight) have a disproportionately high incidence of T2 Diabetes, with 7.1 percent of its population afflicted with T2 diabetes. Saudi Arabia has the highest, 20.2 percent, followed by Kuwait, 17 percent; Lebanon, 14.5 percent; Singapore, 12.3 percent; China, 12 percent; the United Arab Emirates, 10 percent; and the USA, 9.4 percent. The lowest, the Maldives, at 3.8 percent.
Globally, an estimated 3.4 million deaths were attributed to diabetes and its complications in 2024, one death every 9 seconds. In the USA alone, about 30.3 million people have T2 diabetes (23.1 million diagnosed and an estimated 7.2 million (23.8 percent) undiagnosed. About 84.1 million (33.9 percent) have prediabetes, or the so-called borderline diabetes. More than 6.1 million Filipinos are diabetics, and about 8 million are undiagnosed.
High BP – a “time bomb”
Asians, particularly Filipinos, consume an overdose of salt each day. We tend to grab the salt shaker or add salty condiments, even before we taste the food before us. As a result, about 30 million Filipinos (1 in 3) have high blood pressure, and 20 percent are pre-hypertensive. The Department of Health says about 6 million people are undiagnosed, unaware they have high blood pressure, and are “walking time bombs.”
Worldwide, high blood pressure kills 7.5 million each year, and 1.5 billion suffer from its complications, like coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke. In the USA, 75 million of adults (one in three, or 33 percent) have hypertension, killing about 1,200 a day. This disease costs the nation 48.6 billion dollars annually. In the Philippines, about 200,000 die each year from complications of hypertension.
In the United States, one person is diagnosed with a stroke every 40 seconds. This dreaded and debilitating illness is so common that it victimizes more than 2,000 individuals each day and kills about 133,000 each year. Luckily, about 80 percent of strokes are preventable.
Less salt is best
Salt consumption significantly affects individuals with hypertension. The current recommendation is no more than 2300 mg (one teaspoon) of salt (sodium chloride) a day. The average intake of 3400 mg is way above what is healthy. The American Heart Association is even suggesting 1500 mg a day (3/4 of a teaspoon) a day. The total should include all uses for cooking, in condiments, and what is in processed or canned goods, which are loaded with salt preservatives. Reducing our salt intake could reduce the number of hypertensives by 11 million in the USA alone. It would, indeed, be best to get rid of salt shakers.
In the United States, one person is diagnosed with a stroke every 40 seconds. This dreaded and debilitating illness is so common that it victimizes more than 2,000 individuals each day and kills about 133,000 each year. Not to mention kidney failure, heart attack, and cancer.
Discipline and sacrifices
Good health, freedom from illnesses, and longevity are not free. To achieve them, we must be pre-emptive and proactive early, and work for them by arming ourselves with a proven scientific strategy, discipline, compliance, determination, and a lot of personal sacrifices.
Here are some tips to greatly reduce the risk of having hypertension, diabetes, stroke, heart attack, Alzheimer’s, and cancer, basically by living a healthy lifestyle or making necessary lifestyle changes, following the acronym TABA or FATE as suggested above:
Food – low-carb, fish, vegetables, nuts, fruits, minimal or no red meat
Alcohol – moderation, better yet, abstinence, since no amount is safe
Tobacco – total abstinence and avoid second-hand smoke
Exercise – tai chi, brisk walking, tai-bo, swimming, biking, etc., 30 minutes daily.
When it comes to health, our fate is significantly in our hands. The choice is ours: fight or surrender.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, Health Advocate, medical missionary, newspaper columnist, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He is a decorated recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995, presented by then Indiana Governor, US senator, and later a presidential candidate, Evan Bayh. Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry S. Truman, President George HW Bush, Astronaut Gus Grissom, pugilist Muhammad Ali, David Letterman, distinguished educators, scientists, etc. (Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com. On Amazon.com, search for “Where is My America?” Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com
