Causes and Linkages of Diseases

Scientists have found that these main diseases are linked, that is one disease can cause another.


Obesity is linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, lipid disorder, stroke, kidney ailments, respiratory disease, gall bladder disease, osteoarthritis, hormonal abnormalities, nerve & eye problems.

Heart disease is linked to diabetes, high blood pressure.

Stroke is linked to diabetes, high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is linked to eye disease, blood vessel damage, coronary artery disease, kidney failure, stroke, dementia, erectile dysfunction.

Diabetes is linked to stroke, eye disease, kidney disease, impotence, weak bone, anaemia, erectile dysfunction.

Kidney disease is linked to heart disease, anaemia, weak bone, nerve damage, diabetes, high blood pressure.

Cancer is linked to organ damage after cancer cells spread.


Because of these linkages, ‘people with high blood pressure are seven times for likely to suffer from a stroke, four times more likely to have a heart attack, and five times more likely to die of congestive heart failure than people with normal blood pressure’ (Robbins 2001). See Robbins, J. (2001). The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your life and the World. Mumbai: Magna Publishing Co. Ltd.


The level of blood pressure is a determinant of the risk for common cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and heart failure (Panagiotakos et al. 2002). See Panagiotakos, D., Chrysohoou, C., Pitsavos, C., Tzioumis, K., Papaioannou, I., Stefanadis, C. & Toutouzas, P. (2002). “The association of Mediterranean diet with low risk of acute coronary syndromes in hypertensive subjects”, International Journal of Cardiology 82: 141-147, www.elsevier.com/locate/ijcard

Medical research in the US has established high blood pressure and high cholesterol as major risk factors for heart disease (Kushi & Jack 2003). See Kushi, M. & Jack, A. (2003). The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health. New York: Ballantine Books.


Diabetes plays a key role in the development and progression of heart disease (Ghosh & Rodrigues 2006). See Ghosh, S. & Rodrigues, B. (2006). “Cardiac cell death in early diabetes and its modulation by dietary fatty acids”, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1761: 1148-1162, www.elsevier.com/locate/bbalip


According to the Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity president, Professor Dr. Mohd Ismail Noor, most over-weight people are diabetic (Lee 2008). See Lee, R. (2008). “5 million may get diabetes”, New Sunday Times, 13 April, 2008.