Why do we need Lifestyle Medicine?

Abstract

“While the search for the magic bullets continues, other studies are revealing that the environment in which the individuals’ lives and his manner of living are of great importance in determining his susceptibility to the diseases of modern times.”

Rene Dubos

(Mirage of Health-Utopias, Progress, and Biological change, 1959)(1)

This quote by one of the greatest microbiologist of 20^th century is even more relevant today where Non-communicable diseases have taken the center stage in the world as well as in India. The impact of NCD’s in India is quite alarming. NCD’s account for 60%of all deaths and 53% of disease burden, over 20% of the population in India has at least one chronic disease, NCD’s are estimated to cost India 62 million during the period 2012 – 2030.(2)

Most of these NCD’s are related to some common risk factors like lack of physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diet, stressful lifestyle, lack of adequate sleep. That is the reason NCD’s are now being called as lifestyle diseases and interestingly, most of the  NCD’s are preventable (and some of the important ones also reversible in early stages) through lifestyle approaches also being called as ‘Lifestyle Medicine’.