Lifestyle medicine has been described as a multidisciplinary and all-inclusive medical service for promotion of optimal health and wellbeing through evidence-based and well-timed lifestyle interventions.
Dr Ifeoma Monye, the Founding President, Society of Lifestyle Medicine of Nigeria (SOLONg), said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
The medical practitioner, who spoke at the fifth anniversary of the Brookfield Centre for Lifestyle Medicine, expressed gratitude for a successful journey so far.
“We can only be thankful for how far we have come; we will continue to work tirelessly to grow this dream. It started 16 years ago even though it was birthed five years ago.
“We will not relent but strive to achieve many more successful years. True success will be seen when lifestyle medicine is adopted by everyone,” she said.
Monye, who is also the Founder of Brookfield Centre for Lifestyle Medicine (BCLM), said lifestyle medicine should be embraced and practised by all as most chronic diseases are tied to poor lifestyle choices.
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According to her, lifestyle medicine includes but not limited to poor dietary habits, physical inactivity, chronic stress and tobacco use.
Beyond treating these medical conditions, lifestyle medicine adopts a preventive and revertive approach, making it the practice of choice as prevention is cheaper than cure, she said.
She restated calls for national adoption of lifestyle medicine, adding that it would ultimately boost national healthcare.
The lifestyle medicine expert said: “Imagine the socio-economic impact – reduction in loss of lives, days and resources spent on admission and disabling conditions.’’
She explained that lifestyle medicine approach could have positive impact on the nation if people learnt to take helpful steps to ensure that these diseases did not happen in the first place.
The SOLONG founder, whose members were drawn from a multidisciplinary health and medical background, said their aim was to provide education, training, support and motivation to members in their quest to know more about the new and evolving field of lifestyle medicine.
Monye, who expressed concern over national health equity, restated calls on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to adopt lifestyle medicine approach as the foundation of healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
NAN reports that lifestyle medicine is the new pillar of medicine that is evidence-based and aims to enhance individual wellbeing through attitudinal or behavioural change. (NAN)