Can Modern Lifestyles Cause Chronic Disease?
Global urbanization and modern civilization have been responsible for countless scientific and technological achievements over the past couple centuries. But these advances have also been accompanied by a more disturbing trend - the rise in chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as allergies, diabetes, depression, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease, which are likely at least partly fueled by our modern lifestyles. Decades before such chronic medical conditions reached epidemic proportions, a microbiologist named René J. Dubos (1901–1982) had already begun cautioning against impending urbanization, loss of biodiversity, and technological shifts borne out of convenience rather than necessity.