29 Jan Lifestyle Medicine From Elena Klimenko, MD: Food for Thought
In this day and age, there’s an abundance of medical terms, which embodies lifestyle medicine. Lifestyle medicine, within the scope of conventional medicine, is an alternative approach to lower the risk for a number of lifestyle-related chronic diseases or to serve as a supplement to the management plan, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Intervention is often prescribed in conjunction with pharmacotherapy: diabetic patients on medication to control the blood glucose levels or exercise intervention to assist in the long term management. The integration of lifestyle practices into medicine to lower the risk for chronic disease, serves as a supplement to therapy. A defined scientific approach to decreasing disease and illness utilizes lifestyle interventions such as nutrition, physical activity, stress reduction, smoking cessation, avoidance of alcohol abuse, and rest.
The study of how simple lifestyle measures, such as proper diet, exercise, and stress reduction, are thoughtfully and comprehensively integrated into conventional Western medicine practices, which includes promoting health through prevention and therapeutic strategies.These strategies include: diet (nutrition), exercise, stress management, smoking cessation, a variety of other non-drug approaches.
A rather excellent alternative use of lifestyle medicine is by coaching patients to improve personal lifestyle choices regarding weight, physical activity/exercise, nutrition, smoking, stress management, and depression management.
Complementary Therapy:
An example of a complementary therapy is using aromatherapy, a therapy in which the scent of essential flowers, herbs, and tree oils is inhaled to promote health and help lessen a patient’s discomfort following surgery.
Alternative Medicine is often used in place of conventional medicine. An example of an alternative therapy is using a special diet to treat cancer instead of undergoing surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy that has been recommended by a conventional doctor.
Types of alternative medicine include:
- Alternative medical systems (e.g., traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, ayurveda)
- Mind/Body techniques (e.g., meditation, biofeedback, relaxation, hypnotherapy)
- Biologically based therapies (e.g., herbal therapies)
- Body based therapies (e.g., chiropractic, massage, reflexology), and
- Energy therapies (e.g., reiki, therapeutic touch)
Mind Over Matter:
Mind body Medicine focuses on the interactions among the brain, mind, body, and behavior, and on the powerful ways in which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors can directly affect health. It’s a fundamental approach that respects and enhances each person’s capacity for self-knowledge and self-care, and it emphasizes techniques that are grounded in this approach.
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