"In the arc of human history it has to count as a form of success that the biggest threat to health in the world today is too much — too much food, drink, pleasure and leisure. For all but the last few blinks of time, most people died of such things as cold, starvation, childbirth, accident, violence and microbes that hand-delivered infection to every organ in the body. "Of course, lots of people still die in the old ways. But the major killers now are a different set of enemies, a drab regiment marching under the banner of 'noncommunicable disease.' The big ones are cardiovascular ailments ( heart attacks and stroke mostly ); cancer; chronic lung diseases such as emphysema; and diabetes. There are many others — kidney failure, cirrhosis, arthritis — nearly as important. "Fueled by behavior-driven epidemics of smoking, obesity and inactivity, they are taking a toll around the globe, hitting poor nations as well as the rich."