Diseases & Disorders
Reliable, evidence-based explanations of common lifestyle-related conditions and how they connect to daily habits.
4.6Insulin Resistance
A state in which the body's cells respond more weakly to insulin, forcing the pancreas to produce ever-larger amounts of it — the most common, and largely reversible, precursor of type 2 diabetes.
4.6Hypothyroidism
One of the most common hormonal disorders, especially in women — it slows metabolism and is often mistaken for chronic fatigue or 'ordinary' weight gain.
4.7Hypertension
The 'silent killer' — it runs symptom-free for years, yet it's one of the strongest, and largely modifiable, risk factors for stroke and heart attack in the world.
4.7Type 2 Diabetes
A chronic metabolic disease in which the body loses its ability to properly regulate blood glucose — and one of the few chronic diseases where a large randomized trial showed that lifestyle change alone can outperform a drug.
4.7Osteoporosis
A progressive decline in bone mineral density, especially pronounced in postmenopausal women — a network meta-analysis of 74 studies shows exactly which forms of physical activity genuinely slow this process down.
4.7Migraine
A chronic neurological disease causing recurring, severe headache attacks — usually one-sided, pulsating, and worsened by physical activity — which can come with nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and aura. It's not 'just a bad headache' but a distinct disease with its own neurobiological mechanism, affecting more than a billion people worldwide.
4.6Asthma
A chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, in which hyperreactive bronchi respond with constriction, mucosal swelling, and excess mucus production to stimuli that are usually harmless to a healthy person — causing attacks of breathlessness, wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing. Well-controlled, it allows a fully normal life; poorly recognized or neglected, it can cause severe, life-threatening exacerbations.
4.6Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
A chronic disease in which stomach contents flow back into the esophagus often and forcefully enough to cause bothersome symptoms (heartburn, regurgitation, cough) or damage the esophageal lining. One bout of heartburn after a big meal isn't yet a disease — GERD is diagnosed only when episodes are recurring and affect quality of life or lead to complications.
4.6Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
The most common compressive neuropathy in humans — a condition in which the median nerve is compressed in the narrow carpal tunnel of the wrist, causing numbness, tingling, and pain in the hand, typically worsening at night. A common, well-understood problem that, with early diagnosis, is usually treated successfully with conservative care, but if neglected can lead to permanent nerve damage.
4.6Sciatica
Radiating pain along the path of the sciatic nerve, most often caused by a herniated disc compressing a nerve root — the good news is that the large majority of episodes resolve on their own within a few weeks of conservative treatment.
4.7Kidney Stones
Mineral deposits forming in the urinary tract when the concentration of lithogenic substances in urine exceeds its solubility threshold — a classic RCT by Borghi showed that simply increasing fluid intake by nearly half cuts recurrence risk.
4.7Gout
An inflammatory joint disease caused by monosodium urate crystal deposition due to chronic hyperuricemia — affecting up to several percent of the population, with a strong male predominance, and one of the few rheumatic diseases that can be effectively controlled by treating to a specific therapeutic target.
4.6Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)
A non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland affecting up to one in four men over a lifetime — and one of the few urological conditions where a large randomized trial showed a drug can cut the risk of acute urinary retention by more than half.
4.7Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
A chronic autoimmune thyroiditis and the most common — though often overlooked in discussions of hypothyroidism itself — cause of thyroid hormone deficiency in iodine-sufficient countries, affecting women several times more often than men.
4.6Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
A progressive, usually symptomless loss of kidney function affecting up to one in nine adults worldwide — and a condition in which even a small drop in glomerular filtration is linked, in large cohort studies, to a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular death.