Lifestyle Disease

As an NHS physician I’ve witnessed the landscape of medicine change from one that treats acute infectious diseases to one that manages the consequences of lifestyle diseases related to poor diet and physical inactivity.

More and more people are getting fatter and sicker and being ‘kept alive’ by a plethora of medicines, most of which do not attempt to cure disease and have a range of unacceptable side effects.

Almost all my patients have had at least one potentially reversible chronic metabolic disease, be it high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease. Many are overweight and suffering with depression, joint pain and breathing problems. Chronic metabolic disease is crippling the NHS. I felt an overwhelming unease and a desire to start being part of the solution. I never had enough time to talk about nutrition and lifestyle before prescribing medication.

 

Lifestyle Medicine | Preventive – not reactive – Care

In medicine, we operate from the disease model. We are in the business of treating sick people. We are not in the business of preventing people from becoming sick. I’ve become increasingly disillusioned with this model of health care.

Most research is not put into prevention, but into medication for that particular disease. The strategy is to manipulate the symptoms (such as high blood sugar), not deal with the underlying cause (insulin resistance) as seen in the case of diabetes.

Nutrition education was barely taught in medical school. Most doctors rely on dieticians for nutrition advice. The fact is that the changes we make in our diet are probably the single most important thing we can do to determine our destiny.

This is why I developed an interest in Lifestyle Medicine. Preventing Disease.

 

Certified Obesity Management Expert

Physicians are experts at disease diagnosis and management. I am also a certified Obesity Management Expert with an internationally-recognised obesity qualification. I understand that obesity is a complex, multifaceted disease with genetic, epigenetic, hormonal and sociocultural factors at play.

I have an in depth understanding of the obesogenic environmental, physical and psychological promoters of weight gain. I understand why conventional and commercial diets fail, time and time again.

As a Medical Weight Loss Expert, I have a duty of care to you. Empowering you with sound advice on how to remain healthy or prevent disease, is my priority. Your success is my success. It is my responsibility to share my knowledge, to offer you the life of health and vitality that you deserve, and to support you on your journey to wellness.

This is what being a doctor looks like to me and I am proud to be part of the global movement of Lifestyle Medicine.