HEALTH & WELLBEING
BIO-HACK YOUR HEALTH: LIFESTYLE MEDICINE IS THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE
― The great health challenges of the 21st century come from chronic diseases: diabetes/obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, autoimmune and mental health conditions. Lifestyle choices play a role in all these conditions, and Lifestyle medicine seeks to address these issues to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and society. By Dr Neil Forrest, Family GP, MBChB (Leeds, UK), MRCGP (UK), Osler Health International
Current healthcare approaches do not adequately address chronic diseases. Most people have their condition detected at an advanced stage, and doctors offer expensive medicines and interventions to deal mainly with the complications that arise. But what if we could intervene earlier to prevent or even reverse the disease process, and what would this look like? Lifestyle medicine aims to achieve this by focusing on six pillars: • • • • • •
Nutritional health Mental wellbeing/managing stress Social connections and relationships Exercise Minimising harmful substances (like alcohol or smoking) Sleep
It might sound obvious, but with an evidence-informed, scientific approach, these pillars represent powerful tools in our fight against disease. They are much more potent at prolonging lifespan and healthspan (proportion of your life lived without disease/impairment) than any drugs currently available. According to the American College of Lifestyle Med-
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icine, 80% of healthcare spending in the USA goes towards treating or managing health issues related to poor lifestyle choices. Many health issues, like heart disease, obesity, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and even mental health disorders can be remedied through preventative medicine. As a form of preventative medicine, lifestyle medicine seeks to prescribe behavior changes that reduce unhealthy behaviors and focus on the promotion of positive ones. Changing the doctor-patient relationship For this approach to be effective, a doctor needs to move away from their traditional role as an expert who simply imparts information. Years of experience have shown me that simple advice such as “exercise more” or “eat less” is not effective. A lifestyle medicine doctor plays the role of a coach, working in collaboration with their patient to determine their values, goals, motivations and harnessing these to enable lasting behavioural changes. How does it work in practice? We review your overall health and well-being against the six pillars with a comprehensive Lifestyle Assessment. Depending upon the results, we may recommend involvement from a muti-disciplinary team of professionals. The doctor and professionals work
Issue 95 / November 2023
