Lifestyle medicine is a branch of

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care p ...

focused on

preventive healthcare Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

and

self-care Self-care has been defined as the process of establishing behaviors to ensure holistic well-being of oneself, to promote health, and to actively management of illness when it occurs. Individuals engage in some form of self-care daily with foo ...

dealing with research, prevention, and treatment of disorders caused by lifestyle factors and

preventable causes of death Preventable causes of death are causes of death related to risk factors which could have been avoided. The World Health Organization has traditionally classified death according to the primary type of disease or injury. However, causes of deat ...

such as

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient ...

, physical inactivity, chronic stress, and

self-destructive behavior Self-destructive behavior is any behavior that is harmful or potentially harmful towards the person who engages in the behavior. Self-destructive behaviors have been shown by many people throughout the years. It is on a continuum, with one extr ...

s including the consumption of tobacco products and

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...

alcohol abuse Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of unhealthy alcohol drinking behaviors, ranging from binge drinking to alcohol dependence, in extreme cases resulting in health problems for individuals and large scale social problems such as alcohol-relat ...

. Lifestyle medicine focuses on educating and motivating patients to improve the quality of their lives by changing personal habits and behaviors around the use of healthier diets which minimize ultra-processed foods such as a Mediterranean or whole food, plant-predominant dietary dietary pattern, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connection. In the clinic, major barriers to lifestyle counseling are that physicians feel ill-prepared and are skeptical about their patients' receptivity. Poor lifestyle choices like dietary patterns, physical inactivity,

tobacco use Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believe ...

alcohol addiction Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

and dependence,

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use of ...

and dependence, as well as psychosocial factors, e.g. chronic stress and lack of social support and community, contribute to

chronic disease A chronic condition is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term ''chronic'' is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three mo ...

Characteristics

Lifestyle Medicine in Practice The evidence that the body will heal itself when the factors that cause disease are removed is clear. Diseases such as

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, ...

and

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, ...

that were once thought to be irreversible have been reversed by lifestyle interventions. Lifestyle interventions require behavior changes that may be challenging for health professionals, communities, and patients. The task of the LM practitioner is to motivate and support healthy behavior changes. Coaching and supporting people how to cook healthy food at home, for example, can be part of a lifestyle-oriented medical practice. There are many theories of behavior change, the

transtheoretical model The transtheoretical model of behavior change is an integrative theory of therapy that assesses an individual's readiness to act on a new healthier behavior, and provides strategies, or processes of change to guide the individual. The model is ...

(TTM) is particularly suited to Lifestyle Medicine. It posits that individuals progress through six stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination. Stage-matched interventions are most likely to result in successful behavior changes. Lifestyle Medicine practitioners are encouraged to adopt counselling methods such as

motivational interviewing Motivational interviewing (MI) is a counseling approach developed in part by clinical psychologists William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick. It is a directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to e ...

(MI) to identify patient readiness to change and provide stage appropriate lifestyle interventions. Levels of Lifestyle Medicine LM may be practiced on three levels. The first level involves recognition by all health care professionals that lifestyle choices determine health status and is an important modifier of the response to pharmaceutical or surgical treatments. All practitioners are encouraged to include lifestyle advice along with standard treatment protocols. The second level is specialty care (e.g. Exercise medicine) where Lifestyle Medicine interventions are the focus of treatment and pharmaceutical or surgical treatments are an adjunct to be used as necessary. The third level is population/community health programs and policies. Lifestyle intervention advice should be included in public health/preventive medicine guidance and policies for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Interprofessional Education/Collaboration in Lifestyle Medicine Practice Healthcare professionals and their future patients would benefit if the basics of Lifestyle Medicine were incorporated into all professional training programs. Formal training and personal experience of evidence-based lifestyle interventions such as plant-based nutrition, stress management, physical activity, sleep management, relationship skills and substance abuse mitigation would transform our healthcare system. Lifestyle Medicine is uniquely suited to interprofessional education where students from two or more health care professions learn together during all or part of their professional training with the objective of cultivating collaborative practice for providing patient-centered care.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lifestyle Medicine Health education Health promotion Lifestyle Practice of medicine Preventive medicine Public health education Public health research Self-care

Characteristics

See also

References

External links