Lifestyle diseases characterize those diseases whose incidence is primarily based on the daily habits of people and are a result of an inappropriate relationship of people with their environment. The main factors leading to lifestyle diseases include bad food habits, physical inactivity, wrong body posture, and disturbed biological clock. Cardiopulmonary and cardiovascular disorders, obesity, and diabetes are the key lifestyle diseases that have major prevalence worldwide.
According to the world health organization (WHO), cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. CVD caused 17.5 million deaths in 2012. It was the causative factor for close to 31% of all deaths in 2012. CVD-related mortality is expected to grow to 23.3 million annually by 2030. Furthermore, about 347 million people across the globe were suffering from diabetes in 2014. This number is expected to increase to 552 million by 2030. In 2014, about 13% of adults across the globe were obese and 39% of adults aged 18 year and above were categorized as overweight. The prevalence of obesity has doubled over the period of 1980 to 2014.
Metabolic testing, conducted to measure the performance of the heart and lungs under physical stress, involves exercising on a treadmill or stationary cycle while you are closely monitored and breathing through a mouthpiece or face mask. Metabolic testing equipment and software is used to determine the health and wellness of an individual in conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. It is also used to analyse the body’s maximum ability to consume oxygen for maintaining physical strength and fitness. Physicians and exercise physiologists use metabolic testing equipment and software to detect the risk of lifestyle disease at an early stage. These equipment and software is also used as a weight management solution, and for performance testing of patients suffering from lifestyle diseases.
Cardiopulmonary Exercises Testing (CPET) systems, metabolic carts, ECG and EKG systems, and body composition analyzers are some of the equipment used for metabolic testing. CPET system is the ideal solution for the assessment of VO2 Max and other physiological responses to exercise. Metabolic carts are used to determine resting energy expenditure (REE)/resting metabolic rate (RMR) analysis. ECG and EKG systems are used to record an exercise electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) that evaluates changes in the heart’s electrical activity while exercising. Body composition analyzers are used to estimate the quantity of fat and fat-free mass of a person. These equipment are integrated with sophisticated software to ensure accurate, fast, and reliable testing.
The major metabolic testing technologies are VO2 Max analysis, RMR/REE analysis, and body composition analysis. VO2 Max analysis determines the body’s maximum ability to consume oxygen. In addition, resting metabolic rate determines the amount of calories that body burns at rest. Body composition analysis is the physical test to measure various proportions of components, such as water, mineral, fat, and protein, in the body. It is mainly used in hospitals, laboratories, sports training centres, and gyms to test/examine for metabolic disorders, lifestyle diseases, and dysmetabolic syndrome X in the body. The increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases, coupled with the increasing trend for preventive medicine, will drive the demand for metabolic testing.
