What is Lifestyle Medicine?
At its core, Lifestyle medicine empowers individuals to manage and improve their own health. It is an integrated whole-person approach to health that focuses on the management of lifestyle-related chronic medical conditions. Lifestyle Medicine acknowledges and values your uniqueness. Lifestyle Medicine helps you to navigate your own healing journey.
What are Chronic Medical Conditions?
Chronic medical conditions are common. They significantly contribute to invalidity, loss of productivity and declining mental and physical health worldwide.
Many chronic medical conditions (some of which are listed below) share common risk factors that are largely preventable or sometimes reversible by making changes to how we live. In order to manage, treat and prevent chronic health conditions we must actively and effectively deal with the root causes of the problem. The problem often lies in the choices and decisions we make day to day in the way we live our lives. The vulnerability to chronic medical conditions is shared by humans regardless of their social, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender or age background. It is not something that is happening to “The others”, or “across the fence”, or “to bad people”. We are all vulnerable, by the simple fact that we are all just humans. The journey of recovery is often complex and therefore requires collaboration between the individual and a team of willing, compassionate and well informed health professionals. Family and friends can be an integral part of that team.
some risk factors for chronic medical conditions INCLUDE:
Physical inactivity/sedentary lifestyle
Overconsumption of highly processed foods
Smoking
Alcohol overconsumption
Substance abuse
Increased life pressures & stress leading to chronic anxiety, depression & stress
Poor or inadequate sleep
Social isolation/miscommunication
Loss of culture and identity
Other influences of society (increased perception of social divisions and differences)
Environmental factors (present examples: COVID-19 pandemic, climate change)
How can Lifestyle Medicine help with Chronic Medical Conditions?
Lifestyle Medicine aims to understand, manage, treat and prevent chronic and lifestyle-related health conditions by dealing with the root cause of chronic disease. By understanding our own bodies and minds, by learning to reconnect with them in a curious non-judgmental and compassionate way we can start the process of Lifestyle Health. By modifying the choices and decisions we make day-to-day in relation to the way we live our lives, we can influence real systemic change that supports our body’s natural ability to heal and thrive.
Almost everyone knows and understands the impact that poor lifestyle choices can have on our health and wellbeing. The difficulty comes in trying to make and sustain change. Life can be busy, stressful and messy. Sometimes the thought of making lifestyle improvements seems overwhelming and this becomes a barrier to change. The best chance of us being successful in making improvements is to start by looking at what you want to change and why you want to change it. This can be confronting but also hugely empowering.
Lifestyle medicine encourages self-empowerment and self-care. It empowers the individual with tools and strategies that offer a framework through which complex health problems can be solved.
Some Medical Conditions that can benefit from Lifestyle Medicine:
Endocrine Conditions
Diabetes
Graves’ Disease
Hashimoto Disease
Metabolic Syndrome
Obesity
Autoimmune Conditions
Rheumatoid Arthritis
SLE
Inflammatory Bowel disease
Multiple Sclerosis
Women’s Health Conditions
PCOS
Perimenopause
Menopause
PMS
Mental Health Conditions
All stress related mental conditions
Anxiety
Depression
Complex PTSD
Irritable Bowel Disease
Chronic Medical Conditions
Chronic Pain Syndrome
Fibromyalgia
Any chronic medical conditions that is resistant to simplistic pharmacological treatment.
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
Ready to make some changes?
Humans are creatures of routine. Even the most spontaneous among us tend to stick to our routines and habits in life. It can be challenging to try different approaches to how we ‘do life’. Perhaps then if we want different results we can consider a different approach! Even small changes can create huge benefits for your health.
Your willingness to change is the starting point for this transformative journey. The choices and events of yesterday brought us to where we are today. We cannot change the past. All any of us can change is what we do today and tomorrow.