An epidemiological shift is occurring across the world in which the burden of disease is transitioning from a high burden of infectious disease to a high burden of chronic disease and illness (1). This transition to a high non communicable disease burden is at its most advanced stage in westernized high income countries, yet as middle and low income countries become more modernized they too follow in this similar epidemic transition path (1). As they follow the epidemiological pathway paved by high income countries, low and middle income countries are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of this transition both on a population and healthcare system level (2) with low and middle income countries housing 80% of all fatalities due to …show more content…
There was a need in the field to establish a clear temporality of disease and outcome which can only be done with little reporting bias through longitudinal, prospective studies. Also, this study filled a gap in the research by showing long term effects of chronic disease.
An epidemiological account of risk factors and their effects on premature death is important when developing a rich picture of the impact of unhealthy lifestyles on individuals and populations. It takes case studies to notice a trend, ecological studies to confirm a trend, randomized controlled trials to attribute causation, case controls for insight into rare disease and cohort studies to establish temporality and associate exposure to the natural disease progression. All methods are needed in conjunction with one another to flesh out our understanding of the causes of disease and can provide a more accurate depiction when used together than any one method can provide on its …show more content…
Now the focus of research and funding must become what are the best interventions to make long lasting, population level changes in behaviour to drastically decrease unhealthy living in the shortest reasonable time.
The Muller et al. analysis illuminates what must be done to decrease premature death, but now we must look towards health psychologists, policy makers, etc to implement plans of action.

Need for a large scale result that is clear and blunt.
The power of public health lies half in the research and half in the impact that the study has to make meaningful change in the population.
Clear and unmistakable impact that an unhealthy lifestyle has on your health. Real people- a huge number of them died earlier than they should have, and it was directly attributable to something that could have been avoided. Lawmakers, the medical community, educator, public health people. This study should help to direct the professionals to best prioritize health needs and best prioritize non-communicable disease that can be prevented.
This study is impactful not only through its quantitative power but also through the potential qualitative impact that it may have on the mindsets of clinicians and the public at