GU-Journal 4–2021

Page 22

Report

Small steps towards a big change – It is by reflecting on both scientific facts and the major issues in life while also taking small health-promoting steps every day that we can effect real change. That is the opinion of Anders Rosengren, who started the study, Livsstilsverktyget (The Lifestyle Tool). The tool is free, accessible to all and developed in the same meticulous way as in production of pharmaceuticals. Moreover, there is now the book Hela livet for those who would like to immerse themselves further. The Lifestyle Tool is based

on a research project that Anders Rosengren, doctor and Professor of Molecular Medicine, started three years ago. 370 patients with type 2 diabetes had the opportunity to systematically reflect on their own circumstances while receiving scientific facts. Among other things, patients would think about what was so important in life that they were prepared to make a change and start exercising, for example.

22

GUJOURNAL OCTOBER 2021

deeper into various problems to really investigate what they are due to: Why can I not change? Well, because I’m stressed. Why am I stressed? Well, because I feel inadequate. But why? Instead of being prescribed, you are stimulated and can take a step back and think. This deeper approach causes the patient to get to the bottom of themselves, which is a prerequisite for being able to take those important everyday steps that lead to real change.

– When we weighed the patients, checked their blood pressure, as well as their blood sugar and cholesterol levels, we were surprised by how good they were. However, the most interesting result came a little later, when we noticed that these effects not only remained but even improved over time. This is not usually the case, on the contrary, lifestyle changes seldom last very long. Anders Rosengren explains the success by saying that the Lifestyle Tool provides patients with a framework in which they can organise their way of acting and thinking. – The user is helped to dive

The user is helped to dive deeper into various problems to really investigate what they are ­­ due to. ANDERS ROSENGREN

The fact that the method affects blood sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol is of course good. But Anders Rosengren is really critical of all the measuring that is constantly going on in the healthcare sector. – As a doctor and researcher, I obviously devote myself to measuring different things, which of course is necessary. But all the measuring also creates a false notion that a person’s well-being can be determined with the help of numbers, and that the boundary between healthy and sick is clear and distinct. There is a risk that we end up with a kind of pseudo-accuracy where we constantly see connections, even those that do not exist. The success with the diabe-


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.