Health Experts Sound Alarm on Lifestyle Diseases, Social Media’s Growing Influence on Medical Decisions

Health professionals across the Middle East are warning of a troubling confluence of trends: a sharp rise in lifestyle-related diseases, declining public trust in healthcare systems, and increasing reliance on social media for medical guidance, particularly among young adults.

According to Abdul Rahman Agha El Kinge, Consultant Medical Oncologist at NMC Royal Hospital in Sharjah, UAE, 45% of young adults now disregard professional medical advice. Even more concerning, 38% turn to social media platforms rather than certified clinicians for health information. Public trust in healthcare systems has plummeted to just 51%, reflecting a global crisis of confidence exacerbated by rampant misinformation.

“What we’re witnessing is a dangerous shift away from evidence-based medicine toward unverified sources,” explains El Kinge. “This digital dependence is creating real-world health consequences.”

Tarek Yakout, Consultant of Medical Oncology at Cairo Cure Hospital and Chair of the Oncology Department at Sahel Teaching Hospital, emphasizes that Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) remain the world’s primary killers. These conditions—including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory illnesses—stem from a combination of behavioral, physiological, and environmental factors rather than infectious agents.

World Health Organization data from 2021 reveals NCDs are responsible for 74% of all global deaths, with cardiovascular diseases leading at 55%, followed by cancers (28.8%), respiratory diseases (11.3%), and diabetes (5%). The economic impact is staggering—in the Gulf Cooperation Council region alone, NCDs cost approximately $96.7 billion annually.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region faces particularly high obesity rates, with six countries ranking among the top 20 globally: Kuwait (45.4%), Qatar (43.8%), Egypt (43%), Saudi Arabia (41.1%), Iraq (37.4%), and Bahrain (37.2%).

Despite decades of awareness campaigns, tobacco use continues to plague public health in the region. The highest smoking rates among adults are found in Jordan (36.3%), Lebanon (34%), Palestine (31.3%), and Egypt (24.7%), according to WHO Global Report 2024 and Tobacco Atlas 2022.

“Tobacco smoke contains thousands of toxic chemicals that damage cells, cause inflammation, and significantly increase cancer risk,” Yakout explains. “It disrupts nitric oxide—essential for blood vessel relaxation—leading to oxidative stress and cellular injury.” The good news, he notes, is that research shows lung cancer risk can return to normal levels just seven years after quitting.

Physical inactivity represents another critical health threat, described by Adj. Prof. Prem Kumar Shanmugam as a “silent global epidemic.” As Founder and Clinical Director of Solace Asia Addiction Retreat, Shanmugam highlights that insufficient exercise contributes to 5 million preventable deaths annually, increases mortality risk by 30%, and costs healthcare systems $54 billion globally. Most alarming is that 80-81% of adolescents worldwide fail to meet recommended activity levels.

Shanmugam also points to the growing addiction crisis affecting more than 35 million people worldwide—a number steadily increasing across Asia and the Middle East. “Addiction must be viewed not merely as a personal struggle but as a public health emergency impacting families, communities, and economies,” he emphasizes. The neurological mechanism behind addiction involves dopamine—the brain’s reward chemical—which drives craving rather than pleasure, with drugs releasing up to ten times more dopamine than natural rewards.

For the 1.3 billion smokers worldwide who aren’t ready to quit, health experts are promoting harm reduction strategies. Yakout clarifies that the primary danger in smoking isn’t nicotine itself—which is addictive but not carcinogenic—but rather the toxic compounds released during combustion, such as benzene and formaldehyde, classified as carcinogens by the WHO.

“Cigarette alternatives such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco aren’t recommended for non-smokers but can serve as tools to help adult smokers quit,” says Yakout. “These alternatives deliver nicotine without combustion, thereby reducing exposure to carcinogenic substances.”

Sherif Bakir, Senior Consultant in Cardiology at Medcare Medical Centre, supports this view, citing a recent South Korean study of 1,750 heart attack patients. After four years, those who switched to e-cigarettes showed the same reduced risk of recurrent heart attacks as those who quit entirely, while 25% of traditional cigarette smokers suffered new heart attacks.

However, Bakir strongly cautions against e-cigarette use by youth who weren’t previously smokers, noting the risks to developing brains and lungs. This concern has led countries including the United States and United Kingdom to restrict sales to individuals over 21.

Yakout stresses that approximately 40% of cancer cases could be prevented through lifestyle modifications—quitting smoking, improving diet, increasing physical activity, reducing stress, and undergoing early screening, which significantly improves survival rates when tumors are detected in their initial stages.

Health experts are calling for collective efforts from governments, NGOs, and medical associations to communicate accurate health information, with Yakout suggesting nationwide awareness campaigns similar to Egypt’s “100 Million Health” initiative launched by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.