In today’s fast-paced world, lifestyle diseases have become a growing concern. Conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity are increasingly prevalent, largely due to unhealthy habits and sedentary routines. Unlike infectious diseases, lifestyle diseases develop over time and are often preventable through conscious choices and proactive health management.

Understanding Lifestyle and Performance Medicine

While lifestyle medicine focuses on preventing and managing diseases through behavioural changes, performance medicine takes it a step further. It is an emerging field that optimises human health and function beyond disease prevention—enhancing physical and cognitive performance for individuals ranging from elite athletes to professionals seeking peak productivity.

Performance medicine integrates exercise physiology, metabolic health, nutrition science, and recovery strategies to help individuals achieve their best possible health outcomes. It is not just about avoiding illness but about maximising human potential through scientific interventions.

The Growing Burden of Chronic Diseases:

Chronic diseases, also known as non-communicable diseases (NCDs), account for 73% of all deaths globally. In India, NCDs contribute to 53% of all deaths and 44% of disability-adjusted life-years lost. The country has witnessed a rapid, epidemiological transition, shifting from communicable diseases to lifestyle-related conditions due to urbanisation and socio-economic changes.

According to recent reports, the proportion of deaths due to NCDs in India has increased from 37.9% in 1990 to 61.8% in 2016. The four major contributors to this burden are cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs), and diabetes.

A nationwide health screening study revealed alarming trends:

• 65% of individuals screened were found to have fatty liver disease, with 85% of cases being non-alcoholic.
• 46% of asymptomatic individuals showed silent heart risks, indicating undiagnosed cardiovascular conditions.
• Among post-menopausal women, diabetes prevalence increased from 14% to 40%, while obesity rose from 76% to 86%.
• 28% of college students were overweight or obese, and 19% were pre-hypertensive.
• 77% of women and 82% of men showed vitamin D deficiency, highlighting widespread nutritional gaps.
• Prevention, Management, and Reversal of Chronic Diseases

The good news is that both lifestyle and performance medicine offer effective strategies to prevent, manage, and even reverse chronic diseases while enhancing overall well-being. Here are some key approaches:

1. Early Identification of Risk Factors
Detecting chronic diseases at an early stage is crucial for effective management. Regular screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol levels, glucose metabolism, and inflammatory markers can help identify individuals at risk before symptoms appear.

2. Optimised Nutrition for Disease Reversal
A well-balanced diet is not only essential for disease prevention but also plays a role in reversing metabolic disorders . Research has shown that targeted nutritional interventions can improve insulin sensitivity, reduce inflammation, and support cellular repair.

3. Precision Exercise Science
Beyond general fitness, performance medicine focuses on tailored exercise programs that help individuals recover from chronic conditions. Studies conducted at leading performance research labs have explored how exercise metabolism can be optimised for disease reversal.

4. Metabolic Health and Recovery
Understanding metabolic diseases is key to improving long-term health outcomes. Advances in chronic disease epidemiology and precision healthcare continue to shape our understanding of nutritional interventions and metabolic risk factors, improving long-term health through personalised approaches.

The Future of Health Optimisation

As awareness grows, individuals must take charge of their health by making informed choices. Performance medicine is set to revolutionise healthcare by shifting the focus from disease management to peak human function. With research-driven insights and clinical expertise, healthcare professionals and institutions are integrating cutting-edge metabolic research into practical applications that enhance human performance” says Dr Soumik Kalita whose 25-year commitment to chronic disease prevention, management, and reversal has shaped innovative healthcare models.

As an Associate Professor of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, his work has contributed to groundbreaking research in metabolic dysfunction His work on human performance optimisation as a part of collaborations with the Human Performance Lab in the UK has helped create new frontiers in the research on Human Performance.

His extensive research in sports physiology and chronic disease prevention has helped bridge the gap between traditional healthcare and advanced performance science, ensuring that early identification of risk factors and proactive interventions remain at the core of modern medicine.

Dr Kalita is also a Fellow of the International Society for Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology & Prevention and is Scope Certified by the World Obesity Federation . He specialises in chronic diseases, lifestyle diseases, and family medicine and has started high end centres for performance medicine in Gurugram and Bengaluru.

Dr Soumik Kalita says “by adopting a proactive approach to health optimisation and chronic disease reversal, we can collectively reduce the burden of lifestyle diseases and pave the way for a higher-performing, healthier society”.