THE ROLE OF Lifestyle Medicine IN HEALTHSPAN AND LONGEVITY
Many people on hearing the term “Lifestyle Medicine” for the first time might be inclined to think that it describes an indulgent existence or something only for the rich and famous, perhaps involving personal trainers or very expensive gyms or elaborate diets.
Lifestyle Medicine is in fact the opposite, and describes a very accessible and easily-implemented approach to living which seeks to restore, maintain and promote health and longevity. Lifestyle Medicine has at its core a complete rethinking of the way we approach the treatment of disease, so that instead of waiting for disease to occur and then fixing it - usually with medical intervention in the form of medications or surgery - the focus is on preventing disease in the first place, with a complete and thorough understanding of the role that diet/nutrition, physical activity, sleep and psychological/spiritual wellbeing all play in determining an individual’s current state of health.
As our understanding of disease processes increases, especially our understanding of the drivers of unhealthy ageing, all practitioners of the future will base the management of their clients on the core principles or “pillars” of Lifestyle Medicine. This is quite distinct to how medicine is currently practised with its compartmentalised “systems” approach, and is an approach which firmly recognises the place lifestyle factors have in shaping disease, especially age-related loss of function and capability.
Most developed countries now face the problem of a rapidly ageing population, many of whom will require some form of assisted living if not more advanced care as they near the end of life. Longevity medicine aims to not only extend years lived, but extend years lived healthily and productively. This will have ramifications for whole societies as well as individuals. Lifestyle management is a natural fit for this development as it seeks to mitigate existing disease and improve overall health through education, coaching and ongoing support, thereby encouraging and establishing change at a deep and sustainable level. The benefits to health and longevity are manifest, and lifestyle medicine will in time become the foundation stone for all health and longevity programs.
As our global lifestyle disease burden grows and with it the dawning realisation that so much modern disease is preventable, lifestyle management will truly become the new paradigm in the management of all disease. It is imperative that we move away from the model of “heroic” medicine that developed in the late 19th and most of the 20th century in response to the disease processes of the time (infectious diseases and trauma) and understand the implications of today’s environmental, behavioural, political and societal influences on the development of disease. and its implications for the ageing process