How do we fight chronic disease killers? | Ciarán Nicholl | TEDxVareseSalon
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0:11 - 0:12I’m from Ireland.
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0:13 - 0:15I grew up in the Lake District in Ireland.
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0:15 - 0:17And here we are in the Lake District -
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0:17 - 0:18in Italy.
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0:20 - 0:23I grew up with six brothers;
we are one of seven sons. -
0:23 - 0:26Our mother was a teacher,
our father a musician, -
0:26 - 0:29and we lived on a fifty-acre farm.
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0:29 - 0:32Now, the reason I’m telling you this story
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0:32 - 0:35is because back then
there was a certain way of life -
0:35 - 0:37that I would like you
to capture in your mind -
0:37 - 0:40and hold onto it throughout this talk.
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0:40 - 0:45We grew our own food;
it was natural, homegrown. -
0:45 - 0:47Wild fish ran through the river.
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0:47 - 0:49We were good at catching them.
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0:49 - 0:50We still are.
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0:50 - 0:52Every animal had a name.
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0:52 - 0:53The cows had names.
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0:53 - 0:55They lived in the nature.
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0:55 - 0:58They provided us with meat and milk.
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0:59 - 1:01Nutrition.
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1:01 - 1:02How about lifestyle?
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1:02 - 1:06The farmers were busy
from early morning, in the afternoon, -
1:06 - 1:11and they worked physically
until after sunset. -
1:12 - 1:16I want to leave that with you,
and I want to talk about health. -
1:16 - 1:22And more specifically,
chronic disease killers. -
1:23 - 1:28Okay, the reality is, today in Europe,
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1:28 - 1:33over 86 percent of deaths
are due to chronic disease. -
1:35 - 1:38These people are living devastating lives;
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1:38 - 1:40their loved ones, suffering.
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1:41 - 1:42It's a terrible situation.
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1:42 - 1:44In fact, by the time I finish this talk,
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1:44 - 1:4912 people in Europe will have died
because of chronic disease. -
1:50 - 1:53Chronic disease deaths are premature.
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1:53 - 1:57But yet, we are living longer;
the longevity line is going up. -
1:57 - 2:01But how about the quality-of-life line?
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2:01 - 2:06The quality-of-life line
is not staying with the longevity line. -
2:06 - 2:11What it means is that people
spend maybe up to 20 years in poor health -
2:11 - 2:14before they die prematurely.
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2:15 - 2:20Oh yes, we're busy talking
about terrorist attacks, aviation safety, -
2:20 - 2:23the weather, the economic situation.
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2:23 - 2:26Let’s talk about the elephant in the room.
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2:26 - 2:28It’s time to talk about that.
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2:29 - 2:35Okay, it is now time to introduce you
to these chronic disease killers, -
2:35 - 2:40chronic disease killers
that lie within each and every one of us - -
2:40 - 2:43let’s make no mistake about it.
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2:43 - 2:50So, number one chronic disease killer -
cardiovascular disease. -
2:50 - 2:56Cardiovascular disease
claims 40 percent of lives in Europe, -
2:56 - 2:59and by the way, these numbers
are similar - maybe even worse - -
2:59 - 3:01throughout the rest of our planet.
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3:03 - 3:06Let's take number two: cancer.
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3:07 - 3:10Cancer is a disease
involving abnormal growth -
3:10 - 3:12which invades and takes over the body.
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3:12 - 3:15We all know about formidable cancer.
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3:16 - 3:17In the European Commission,
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3:17 - 3:19we have the European
Cancer Information System, -
3:19 - 3:22and we can tell you
that this year, in Europe, -
3:22 - 3:27there will be 3.9 million
new cases of cancer. -
3:27 - 3:30Over 1.9 million people will die.
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3:31 - 3:33Let’s take number three:
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3:33 - 3:34diabetes.
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3:35 - 3:38Diabetes is a group of metabolic disorders
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3:38 - 3:42which involve high levels of sugar
in the bloodstream -
3:42 - 3:45over prolonged periods of time.
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3:46 - 3:49Ladies and gentlemen,
they are the three big killers, -
3:49 - 3:52contributing to 86 percent of deaths.
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3:53 - 3:54So, what do we do?
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3:54 - 3:59What do we do to defuse
these chronic disease time bombs -
3:59 - 4:00that lie within us?
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4:00 - 4:02Oh, hang on!
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4:02 - 4:04Maybe some of them are preventable.
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4:06 - 4:09Would you like to find out
how preventable these diseases are? -
4:10 - 4:15Let’s go back then to number one:
cardiovascular disease. -
4:15 - 4:17Evidence tells us that - wait for it -
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4:17 - 4:2190 percent of cardiovascular
disease is preventable. -
4:21 - 4:2390, not 9 - 90.
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4:24 - 4:26Take cancer.
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4:26 - 4:30Between 40 and 45 percent
of cancers are preventable. -
4:30 - 4:32And let’s take diabetes.
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4:32 - 4:3580 percent of diabetes cases
are preventable. -
4:35 - 4:37Well, this is just fantastic news!
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4:38 - 4:41It’s amazing. It's fantastic!
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4:41 - 4:44But if we look at the reality,
what's happening today, -
4:44 - 4:48if we look at health
expenditure in Europe, -
4:48 - 4:51it's about ten percent of GDP.
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4:51 - 4:54That doesn't mean millions,
it doesn't mean billions; -
4:54 - 4:56it means trillions of euros.
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4:56 - 4:57But the reality is,
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4:57 - 5:00of all that money we spend on health,
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5:00 - 5:07less than one percent goes to prevention.
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5:08 - 5:12So, we are not here to name,
to blame, or to shame. -
5:12 - 5:14It is what it is.
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5:14 - 5:17We as humanity
have created that situation, -
5:17 - 5:19but I have more good news.
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5:19 - 5:21If we talk about prevention,
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5:22 - 5:26there are two main ways
to prevent disease. -
5:27 - 5:28Number one -
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5:28 - 5:31and now I want to bring you back
to that image of my six brothers and I, -
5:31 - 5:33back in Ireland.
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5:33 - 5:35Number one - nutrition.
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5:35 - 5:37What we eat every day.
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5:38 - 5:40And number two is lifestyle.
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5:42 - 5:44Let’s talk a little bit about nutrition.
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5:45 - 5:50Do you know how much sugar, salt, and fat
you have put through your system today? -
5:51 - 5:55Have you eaten at least 400 grams
of fruit and vegetables today? -
5:57 - 5:59That’s about five portions.
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5:59 - 6:01How about your red meat consumption?
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6:01 - 6:04In Europe, we’re eating double
the amount of red meat we should -
6:04 - 6:06and half the amount of fish we should.
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6:06 - 6:09How about your legumes? Your fiber?
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6:11 - 6:12Then lifestyle.
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6:12 - 6:14Lifestyle - we all know it -
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6:14 - 6:16smoking, it's very bad.
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6:16 - 6:19In the European Code Against Cancer,
it’s the number one killer. -
6:19 - 6:22And the number two
cause of cancer in the Code -
6:22 - 6:23is passive smoking.
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6:23 - 6:24So, if you don't smoke,
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6:24 - 6:29do not accept to inhale
other people's passive smoke. -
6:30 - 6:32Alcohol? Limit it.
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6:32 - 6:36Limit it as much as you can.
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6:36 - 6:38And the big one - physical activity.
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6:38 - 6:40Remember the farmers years ago?
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6:40 - 6:41From morning to night?
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6:41 - 6:44What are we doing all day?
We are doing this. -
6:44 - 6:47And then we go home, and we do this.
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6:47 - 6:48And then we go to bed.
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6:50 - 6:51So basically, they’re the main things.
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6:51 - 6:54Now, 40 years or more have passed on.
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6:54 - 6:57Today, I’m in the Lake District in Italy,
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6:57 - 6:59and I love it here.
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6:59 - 7:00I’m a JRC scientist.
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7:00 - 7:04I am a scientist working
in public health on chronic disease -
7:04 - 7:06for the European Commission’s
Joint Research Centre. -
7:07 - 7:08Now, I need to tell you
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7:08 - 7:13that the EU and the Commission
does not have a legal mandate -
7:13 - 7:17to impose legislation on the member states
to help the situation. -
7:17 - 7:22That is up to the member states,
the countries of the European Union. -
7:22 - 7:25But we do, and we can do,
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7:25 - 7:29and we do a lot of very good work
on spearheading projects. -
7:29 - 7:30Let me give just one or two examples,
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7:31 - 7:33and then we will go
on towards the end of the talk. -
7:35 - 7:39In the Joint Research Centre,
we have mapped school food policies. -
7:39 - 7:41The children are the future.
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7:41 - 7:42When children learn good habits -
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7:42 - 7:45and the school is a controlled setting;
it's an excellent setting - -
7:45 - 7:47they will keep those good habits,
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7:47 - 7:51just like if they learn bad habits,
it would be difficult to change. -
7:52 - 7:53With those school food policies,
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7:53 - 7:57we then got the member states together,
and they all exchanged practices: -
7:57 - 7:58What do you do?
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7:58 - 7:59How can we fix the situation?
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7:59 - 8:02How can we improve the situation?
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8:02 - 8:03We’ve looked to see
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8:03 - 8:08how to improve the uptake of fruit,
vegetables, and water in schools. -
8:09 - 8:12We’ve even looked
at national dietary requirements, -
8:12 - 8:15and I can give you some
shocking statistics now - let's do it. -
8:16 - 8:20If you take plain rice -
plain rice in its natural form -
8:20 - 8:25should contain, or does contain,
about 0.5 grams per 100 grams. -
8:25 - 8:27That's a half a percentage.
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8:27 - 8:32But if you look what's on the market,
what are people buying and eating? -
8:32 - 8:35Some of those products
contain over 30 grams - -
8:35 - 8:37it's added sugar -
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8:37 - 8:3930 grams per 100 grams.
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8:39 - 8:42So that’s like 60, 70 times more sugar.
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8:42 - 8:44We looked at breakfast cereals,
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8:44 - 8:48breakfast cereals all over Europe,
the various categories. -
8:49 - 8:53There’s a chart from
0 to 35 grams per 100 grams. -
8:54 - 8:57It was red, especially for the children:
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8:57 - 9:00the children's cereals are full of sugar.
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9:00 - 9:02They're going to school
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9:02 - 9:05having already exceeded,
maybe, their daily dose. -
9:06 - 9:08We’ve also looked
at front-of-pack labeling. -
9:08 - 9:09I asked you earlier:
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9:09 - 9:12do you know how much sugar,
salt, and fat you've eaten today? -
9:12 - 9:15Well, to be honest you'd be a genius
to be able to find that out -
9:15 - 9:17because it is very difficult.
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9:17 - 9:18Front-of-pack labeling.
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9:18 - 9:21When you buy something
and you want to it eat it or drink it, -
9:21 - 9:24can you look at the back of it
and read and understand what's there? -
9:24 - 9:27We are looking to improve that situation.
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9:27 - 9:30We are mapping all of
the front-of-pack labeling techniques, -
9:30 - 9:33and we will spearhead a project
to hopefully change that. -
9:33 - 9:36If we cannot communicate
this to the people, -
9:36 - 9:38then the people won’t make the change.
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9:40 - 9:42Okay, there were
some examples of what we do. -
9:42 - 9:43We could go on,
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9:43 - 9:45but I need to come
towards the end of the speech. -
9:46 - 9:48Now, this is not just -
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9:48 - 9:51if you take a step
on nutrition and lifestyle, -
9:51 - 9:56it is not just about reducing
your risk of chronic disease. -
9:56 - 10:00There are two other fantastic advantages.
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10:00 - 10:01Number one.
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10:02 - 10:03Think about it:
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10:03 - 10:08if 86 percent of us are dying
because of chronic disease, -
10:08 - 10:11how many of us are already toxic?
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10:13 - 10:16How do we feel? Do we feel good?
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10:16 - 10:20If we take a step in this direction,
we will feel better. -
10:20 - 10:21We will think better.
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10:21 - 10:23We will sleep better.
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10:23 - 10:25We will move better.
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10:25 - 10:27We will do everything better.
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10:27 - 10:30Before, when you thought,
"This is a burden; this is a stress" - -
10:30 - 10:35that will suddenly become
"It's a challenge; I will get over this." -
10:36 - 10:38Our wellbeing should not
be underestimated. -
10:38 - 10:42That is for you:
this is really for all of us. -
10:42 - 10:47And there's a second big advantage:
our precious environment. -
10:48 - 10:51Imagine if millions of people
make this little move, -
10:51 - 10:55towards eating and their lifestyle.
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10:55 - 10:57Just making that change.
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10:57 - 11:00Cycling, walking to work - leave the car.
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11:00 - 11:02The air would become cleaner.
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11:02 - 11:04Take the stairs, not the lift.
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11:04 - 11:06You save energy.
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11:06 - 11:09Energy, climate change -
we know the story. -
11:09 - 11:11These are a lot of factors that we can do.
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11:12 - 11:14So there are so many advantages,
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11:14 - 11:19and looking at these figures and numbers
and saying, “I’m going to do something." -
11:19 - 11:22And now, we're almost at the end.
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11:22 - 11:26And I am looking at you
because I have one request: -
11:26 - 11:30to please take away
even one thing with you. -
11:31 - 11:32That maybe from tonight or tomorrow,
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11:32 - 11:36you will go for a walk after dinner
before you go to bed. -
11:36 - 11:38Maybe look at your fruit and veg uptake.
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11:39 - 11:40Maybe drink more water.
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11:41 - 11:43Please take that with you.
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11:43 - 11:44You will feel better.
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11:44 - 11:46Your loved ones will really appreciate it.
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11:47 - 11:48And maybe then,
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11:48 - 11:52we can turn the tide of chronic disease.
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11:52 - 11:54(Applause)
- Title:
- How do we fight chronic disease killers? | Ciarán Nicholl | TEDxVareseSalon
- Description:
-
Nowadays, in Europe, 86% of deaths are due to chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. The increase in longevity has not been accompanied by an increase in the conditions of wellbeing. What can we do to improve the situation? According to Ciarán Nicholl, every one of us can take the initial important step, and the keyword is prevention.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 12:08
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