Diabetes is a condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high for the body to manage. It is a lifelong condition that will continue to get worse unless treated and carefully managed, with possible consequences being amputation and loss of sight.

There are two main types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is less common, affecting around 10% of all diabetic adults in the UK and is caused when the body’s immune system attacks insulin-producing cells. Type 2 diabetes is where the body doesn’t produce enough insulin and is most often caused by being overweight and having a poor diet.

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Information taken from: NHS.uk (2015).

NHS Choices [online] available at: www.nhs.uk [Accessed 16 Oct. 2015].

Smoking is a leading cause of heart disease and cancer, especially lung and mouth cancer, amongst many other illnesses, including acid indigestion and stomach ulcers. Although even one cigarette can negatively affect your health, risks increase the more you smoke.

Smoking also produces passive smoke, which affects all others in the vicinity and can also cause them health problems, even if they do not smoke themselves. Stopping smoking is essential to improve health and life expectancy.

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Information taken from: Nhs.uk, (2015).

NHS Choices [online] available at: https://www.nhs.uk [Accessed 16 Oct. 2015].

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of death and responsible for more than 73,000 deaths in the UK each year. Main symptoms include angina (chest pain), heart attacks and heart failure.

CHD is caused when the heart’s blood supply becomes blocked or interrupted by fatty substances in the coronary arteries. These fatty deposits may be caused or aggravated by lifestyle factors such as smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes.

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Information taken from: Nhs.uk, (2015).

NHS Choices [online] available at: https://www.nhs.uk [Accessed 16 Oct. 2015].

Being overweight can be harmful to health and lead to lifelong conditions such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and some kinds of cancer. People who are very overweight with a lot of body fat are described as obese.

Obesity is estimated to affect around one in every four adults in the UK and one in every five children aged 10 to 11 in the UK.

Being overweight is generally caused by consuming more calories than are burnt off through physical activity, often by consuming foods high in fat and sugar. However, it can also be triggered by underlying health conditions.

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Information taken from: Nhs.uk, (2015).

NHS Choices [online] available at: https://www.nhs.uk [Accessed 16 Oct. 2015].