“Is Lifestyle Medicine the Hot New Drug?” A multi-part series

Published by Ben Brown on

A few weeks ago I had the honor of presenting grand rounds at our local hospital to a group of mostly physicians and physicians in training. It is a wonderful mix of talent, dedication, and learning, from retiree’s who hold the love of medicine like the holy grail to doctors in training who revere learning novel ways to heal and sleep with a similar sense of awe. All of whom were dedicated enough to get there by 7:30 am to hear what is new and exciting in medicine.

This time Ancient is the New New.
Lifestyle is an answer to the cries of a medical system that is stretched to keep up with our nation’s current habits.

● The Cries
○ State of the Nation = If you are not a rebel you will be fat, sick and apathetic
○ Only 2.7%
● The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
○ Good: covered program
○ Bad: Not yet the dominant paradigm, only Hawaii covering for risk factors
○ Ugly: Motivation to Keep Things the same is not altruistic, not rational, not science based, not financially helpful to the system
● The Answer: Simple is the New Powerful Lifestyle Medicine
○ Stop, Slow or Reverse Heart Disease, Prostate Cancer
○ Drop Depression, Anger and Anxiety Scores
○ Increase Telomerase and Lengthen Telomeres
✩ Side Effects:
○ weight loss: more than weight watchers
○ blood sugar control
○ increased quality of life
○ 2.5-3 times the compliance of taking medications
○ currently being studied for Alzheimers
○ Fastest Growing Medical Organization