The Head of Family Medicine at Randle General Hospital, Dr. Olubunmi Diala and other healthcare specialists have advocated a paradigm shift from disease care to healthcare and from sickness to wellness among the citizens. They also noted that embracing the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine can guarantee a healthier society.
The health specialists made the submission at the Global Lifestyle Medicine Week 2023 organised by Randle General Hospital, Surulere, Lagos, in collaboration with the Society of Lifestyle Medicine of Nigeria and Africa Lifestyle Medicine Council held recently.
The Global Lifestyle Medicine Week is observed from the 21st to 26th of May annually with the main objective of creating global awareness of the effectiveness of lifestyle medicine tools in preventing, treating and oftentimes reversing chronic disease. The theme for this year’s campaign is “Beat the Root Cause of Disease with DREAMS”.
The Coordinator of the programme and Head of Accident & Emergency/Family Medicine of Randle General Hospital, Dr. Olubunmi Diala said lifestyle is simply a pattern of an individual’s behavioural choices and practices with respect to daily life activities, that are related to elevated or reduced health risk.
Her words, “Lifestyle Medicine, therefore, integrates lifestyle practices into everyday clinical practices in order to prevent or reduce the occurrence of a disease or serve as an adjunct to its treatment”.
She further stressed that lifestyle changes are worth instituting at any point in the Health and Wellness spectrum because according to research, an individual’s wellbeing is largely determined by lifestyle-related factors. In addition, these changes are feasible, sustainable and empowering to the individual.
Diala also gave an overview of what was to be expected from the programme explaining the acronym DREAMS as ‘D’ for Diet and Healthy Nutrition; ‘R’ for Relationships, ‘E’ for Exercise, ‘A’ for Avoidance of Psychoactive Substances, ‘M’ for Mental Wellbeing and ‘S’ – Sleep.
The Head of Nutrition and Dietetics, Miss. Lateefat Calfos explained that the food and drink choices people make every day affect their health now and later in life. She added that healthy eating entails choosing different types of healthy food from the various food groups, in the right proportion with the aim of improving health and preventing diseases.
In a similar vein, the Director of Physiotherapy, Randle General Hospital, Mr. Adeolu Babatunde emphasised the importance of exercise in achieving and maintaining physical and mental health. He noted that exercising is useful in weight and pain management, as well as control of chronic illnesses. He also stated that exercise must be prescribed according to the needs of the individual.
Assistant Director of Nursing Services, Mrs. Catherine Okunneye, in discussing “Avoidance of Toxic Substances” said that they can result in chronic inflammation, which increases the risk for physical and mental illnesses. She went on to highlight the negative effects of toxic substances on the individual’s psychosocial well-being as well as the impact on the family and society at large.
Earlier, the President of Society of Lifestyle Medicine of Nigeria (SOLONg), Dr. Moyosore Makinde revealed that a healthy lifestyle has been shown to affect gene expression positively (epigenetics), reduce insulin resistance, provide antioxidants, and reduce chronic systemic inflammation. She enjoined members and healthcare professionals to conduct outreaches to motivate behaviour changes across the country.