A symptom is not just a symptom! It is an invitation into someone’s story. 

The musculoskeletal system is intricate, yet the complexities don’t end there. We also know that muscles, joints and nerves all interact with each other and can influence each other in a positive or negative manner. In order for us to effectively and thoroughly help our clients, we need to dive into their story beyond the symptom that brought them to us.

Are lifestyle choices part of our story and these systems as well? Can we help our current clients struggling with pain and a loss of function utilizing tools such as sleep and social connection? 

The answer is an emphatic yes! 

Let’s explore 5  reasons to consider adding Lifestyle Medicine (LM) to your personal and professional tool box. 

Lifestyle Medicine is evidence based

Lifestyle medicine by definition is an evidence-based practice. The definition from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine is as follows. “Lifestyle Medicine is the use of evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic intervention… As a primary modality, delivered by clinicians trained and certified in the specialty, to prevent, treat, and often reverse chronic disease.” Did you catch that last part about often reversing chronic disease? Wow!

Lifestyle Medicine is an add on to your tool box

Integrating Lifestyle Medicine complements what you already do! Lifestyle Medicine is not a replacement for any of your other skill sets. Implementing nutrition and stress management along with the other LM tenants allows you to more comprehensively treat your client. This aids their current situation as well as empowers them to take ownership of their health into the future.

Certification in Lifestyle Medicine

Interested in learning more about how to help your patients move toward a healthier life?

• Learn more about the Certification in Lifestyle Medicine, brought to you in partnership with Purdue University
• Meet with Admissions

Positive Psychology

Lifestyle related diseases (LRD) are not unique to the United States. It is estimated that 71% of the global burden of disease is due to shared risk factors among virtually all developed and modernizing countries. Yikes!

What is Positive Psychology and what is its role? The most common definition brought to us by Peterson, 2008 is “positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living”. An amazing thing about positive psychology is it has both behavioral and physiological health impacts. There are dozens of areas that improve with positive psychology and plenty of evidence to support it. Let’s highlight a few: improved A1C (measure of overall blood glucose as a measure of diabetes control), longevity (could Lifestyle Medicine be the fountain of youth?), and improved inflammatory markers/immune function/endocrine function. Learn more about Positive Psychology. 

Pain Science and Lifestyle Medicine are a beautiful blend

Pain is complex! EIM has a robust pain science program. The integration of lifestyle choices and behavior change is a natural outflow from pain science. For the purposes of this commentary, we are going to focus on the role of epigenetics, lifestyle choices and the connection to pain. Polli et al tells us “One important discovery of the past decades is that vulnerability to many chronic illnesses, including chronic pain, is not solely dictated by our genes, but rather by the interaction between our genes and environmental and lifestyle factors”. Epigenetics is an important piece of this puzzle. HeartMath researchers tell us  we can alter the physical strands of our DNA. One of the “tools” the researchers learned was the ability to alter DNA through “human intention”. And this loops us back to Positive Psychology.  Amazing! 

Epigenetics is recognition, implementation and understanding that there are different mechanisms that can influence how a gene works and whether or not it gets expressed. This is where Lifestyle Medicine can be so powerful. We all have the ability to influence our genetics through the use of epigenetics-through lifestyle choices and behaviors. 

What is the benefit of digging deeper with lifestyle behaviors for ourselves and our clients? Consider the following example that I often use with my own clients. Let’s consider three options if someone has a headache: stress headache,  dehydration, or cervicogenic from an injury. If the clinician approaches this client from the cervicogenic manner, we are doing our client a disservice by not considering all possibilities. If the same client were to see a nutritionist, the assumption might be dehydration. A broad understanding of Lifestyle Medicine enhances our ability to thoroughly assess and assist a client.

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a key component of Lifestyle Medicine. I consider this method of communication a necessity for quality human relationships. Motivational Interviewing has been aggressively studied. Research has found MI to be helpful in many areas of improving health. In fact, MI out performs advice giving in 80% of the studies addressed in meta-analysis from 2005. 80%! Motivational interviewing is a style of communication that is both collaborative and goal oriented. There’s a particular attention to the language of change, referring to the words our clients are using that can indicate where they are in their motivation to change a particular behavior. With MI, we are using our skills of listening,  asking questions and reflecting what our clients tell us. This helps them access their own internal drive to create the change and what this change might look like.

When considering integrating Lifestyle Medicine, I leave you with a quote from LSM graduate Michelle Menashi: “The question isn’t why should we, but how can we not?”

References

Lianov LS, Fredrickson BL, Barron C, Krishnaswami J, Wallace A. Positive Psychology in Lifestyle Medicine and Health Care: Strategies for Implementation. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2019;13(5):480-486. Published 2019 Apr 18. doi:10.1177/1559827619838992

Katz DL, Frates EP, Bonnet JP, Gupta SK, Vartiainen E, Carmona RH. Lifestyle as Medicine: The Case for a True Health Initiative. Am J Health Promot. 2018;32(6):1452-1458. doi:10.1177/0890117117705949

Polli A, Nijs J, Ickmans K, Velkeniers B, Godderis L. Linking Lifestyle Factors to Complex Pain States: 3 Reasons Why Understanding Epigenetics May Improve the Delivery of Patient-Centered Care. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2019;49(10):683-687. doi:10.2519/jospt.2019.0612

https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics   

https://positivepsychology.com/what-is-positive-psychology-definition/

Miller, W. and Rollnick, S., 2012. Motivational interviewing: Helping People Change. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Guilford Press.​​

Rubak S, Sandbaek A, Lauritzen T, Christensen B. Motivational interviewing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Gen Pract. 2005 Apr;55(513):305-12. PMID: 15826439; PMCID: PMC1463134.

Shammas MA. Telomeres, lifestyle, cancer, and aging. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2011;14(1):28-34. doi:10.1097/MCO.0b013e32834121b1

“You Can Change Your DNA.” HeartMath Institute, 15 June 2015, https://www.heartmath.org/articles-of-the-heart/personal-development/you-can-change-your-dna/. 

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