Lifestyle Medicine article

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

I read this very relevant article in the Huffington Post regarding using

lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise and mental well-being to manage

diseases.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/millions-die-due-to-withh_b_705114.h\

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Here are some samples from the end of the article:

" Lifestyle medicine is not just about preventing chronic diseases but also about

treating them. It is often more effective and less expensive than relying

exclusively on drugs and surgery. Nearly all the major medical societies

recently joined in publishing a review of the scientific evidence for lifestyle

medicine both for the prevention and TREATMENT of chronic disease. That report

is called the ACPM Lifestyle Initiative, and I encourage you to read it. It

concluded there is strong evidence that a lifestyle-based approach to chronic

disease often works better than medication or surgery and saves money.

....Unfortunately, insurance doesn't usually pay for it. No one profits from

lifestyle medicine, so it is not part of medical education or practice. It

should be the foundation of our health care system, but doctors ignore it

because doctors do what they get paid to do. They get paid to dispense

medication and perform surgery. They also need to be paid to develop and conduct

practice-based and community programs in sustainable lifestyle change such as

those pioneered by Dr. Dean Ornish.

The new health care bill provides for community based wellness initiatives like

these, and that's a step in the right direction. The National Council on

Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health has begun to develop policies

that will create a healthier nation. But what's missing is insurance and

Medicare reimbursement for treatments known to be effective for heart disease

and diabetes--lifestyle-based therapies that are critical not just for

prevention but also for the treatment and reversal of these modern epidemics. By

not offering reimbursement for these treatments we have, in effect, begun the

Tuskegee experiment of the 21st century.

....The only way this is going to happen is if doctors are paid to do it.

Lifestyle is often the best medicine when applied correctly, and it is the only

thing that will end our modern Tuskegee experiment. "

Also, see the website referenced in the article:

http://www.acpm.org/LifestyleMedicine.htm

Love the way he writes that no one profits from lifestyle medicine, so it is not

part of medical education or practice!

Hannah

UC 22 years

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