Why Lifestyle Medicine Matters There is a movement for change in how healthcare is provided that can improve the quality of healthcare and significantly reduce cost. It’s a movement that’s been sparked by a recognition that the status quo approach of treating symptoms with ever-increasing quantities of expensive pills and procedures is unsustainable. This movement is being led by physicians and other medical professionals certified through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine in the emerging medical specialty called Lifestyle Medicine. The goal of this new specialty is to awaken the public and health professionals to a realization that using more expensive technology to manage diseases will never lower healthcare cost or significantly improve quality of life without first treating the real causes of disease. Real health care reform has to begin with a recognition that healthcare depends on first addressing how lifestyle now causes the most common diseases. Unfortunately, the national debate continues to focus on the cost of healthcare rather than why the care is needed. What’s missing is the fact that drug prices, insurance and healthcare cost, in general, are symptoms, not root causes. So, why are our national leaders so vocal about the symptoms and so quiet about the root causes? Could it be the millions of dollars in campaign contributions from industries (food, tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, etc.) that benefit from maintaining the status quo? In an earlier era, the big challenges for health care were communicable diseases and acute care situations. For these needs, we have perhaps the best healthcare in the world. Where we fall short is in treating the 70% of people seeking care for chronic conditions that could benefit from lifestyle changes as the first line of therapy. Unfortunately, both public health education and medical training have been slow in meeting this new challenge. Nutrition is still rarely taught in medical schools and yet diet remains the number one cause of disease. Lifestyle Medicine doesn’t replace traditional, modern medicine. We will always need traditional acute care medicine and are thankful for it. This being said, Lifestyle Medicine must become the foundation of a transformed and sustainable system of health care delivery that’s focused on identifying and eradicating the root cause of chronic diseases. We must recognize that what we eat, how we move, how we sleep, and how we deal with stress are foundational pillars that affect most health outcomes. Lifestyle Medicine has the potential to arrest and even reverse chronic disease, adding years to lives and life to the years. The result can be far less demanding for costly medical services and prescription drugs. With Lifestyle Medicine’s focus on the 80% or more of all healthcare spending tied to the treatment of conditions rooted in unhealthful lifestyle behaviors, the national savings has been estimated at over a trillion dollars a year. Unfortunately, for many, unhealthy lifestyle behaviors have become viewed as the new normal. Today we have evidence that heart attacks should be rare and that the odds for having many forms of cancer can be greatly reduced. Still, far too many view cancer and heart attacks as an inevitable part of growing older long before they have reached old age. Our nation can reduce demand, improve health and stop the ever-increasing cost that is draining the pocketbooks of Americans. Recent estimates have 70% of all Americans and 90% of all seniors taking prescription medications with the U.S. spending more on pharmaceuticals than the rest of the world combined. With a greater emphasis on lifestyle as the root cause, we can reverse many chronic diseases and stop this unsustainable cost trend. Lifestyle Medicine prevents, treats and, oftentimes, reverses chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s by addressing root causes, with evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic approaches such as a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substance use and other non-drug treatments. Although still a very small part of evidence-based medicine in America, Lifestyle Medicine is quietly becoming the fastest-growing medical specialty in the U.S. and around the world. This is an encouraging change in how physicians are being trained. Each year more medical schools are choosing to include “food as medicine” and other Lifestyle Medicine courses. Interestingly, The Association of American Medical Colleges recently referred to the Lifestyle Medicine Physician as one of the top five emerging medical careers. The question today is, “Can we turn the tide and create real health care reform. If it happens it will be because more of us adopt healthy lifestyle choices to protect our own health, including those of us in the medical field. For those who already have chronic diseases, making specific and significant lifestyle changes has the power to arrest and, often, even reverse these degenerative conditions. Importantly, recognize that you are not a victim of your genes. You, to a very large extent, have the ability to protect your health and fight disease through the power of your own lifestyle choices. By becoming informed, you can help accelerate the changes needed by getting information about the value of Lifestyle Medicine to people that can personally benefit and to leaders that can influence change. Let them know that you want to be cared for by a health care system with a Lifestyle Medicine- first approach that seeks to identify and eradicate root causes with evidence-based approaches as a first treatment option. That’s real health care reform! In an ideal world, doctors would have a pill for every illness and patients would effortlessly attain perfect health. Unfortunately, attaining the best health possible requires active participation in lifestyle changes. Granted this is harder than swallowing a pill but often so much more effective in providing quality of life. Not to worry, I understand that change is often difficult. You can be sure I’ll be rooting for you and looking forward to being your mentor on the journey with the best that evidence-based medicine has to offer. Nancy Neighbors, MD Huntsville, Alabama |