Lifestyle Medicine Technology To Manage Lifestyle Diseases!

Most of the illnesses that are the bane of our existence are the outcome of poor lifestyle choices and environmental factors. Majority of the Indian population, especially young adults are suffering from poor health conditions due to an unhealthy lifestyle.

What triggers poor lifestyle choices-

• People like nothing better than to gorge on lip-smacking fast food, which really does no favours to their bodies.

• Stress and anxiety accompany us every day of our lives. Deadlines at the workplace, peer pressure, the imperative to adhere to societal norms can damage anyone’s physical and psychological health. The need to keep out and the fear of missing out makes us lead a fast life that does not contribute to our health.

• These self-destructive activities are manifesting themselves all around us in the form of a host of physical ailments triggered by unhealthy lifestyles and reaction to a compromised environment. These are called chronic diseases and are a primary cause of mortality today.

The distressing rise in chronic ailments like diabetes, asthma, obesity, sleep apnea osteoarthritis has people in the medical and pharmaceutical industry worried.

What is Lifestyle Medicine?

The medicines that were concocted in the wake of the research are called lifestyle medicine. Their goal is two-fold- to heal the diseases by understanding the causes, and to prevent recurrence of the illness. To sum it up, lifestyle medicines are responsible for the diagnosis, treatment of chronic illnesses and their prevention.

Is there more to Lifestyle Medicines than just the pills?

Lifestyle medicines are not just tablets you swallow. If you opt for lifestyle medicine, you have to commit to a rigorous and healthy lifestyle. Doctors prescribing this kind of medication ask you to consult a nutritionist who prepares a diet chart for you that will help allay your ailments as well as provide the right proportion of nutrition based on your age, sex and weight.

Similarly, your doctor will advise you to take up new physical activities like joining the gym, jogging, walking, swimming etc. A healthy diet and regular exercise can offset many lifestyle diseases like obesity, cardiac problems and can bring Type 2 diabetes and asthma under control.

If you live in a metropolitan city, you are prone to breathing in toxic fumes and ingesting polluted food and water. For lifestyle medicines to work, you should take time to retire to the seaside or the mountains where the air is conducive to recuperation.

Lifestyle medicine is a modern technology. People are making themselves sick because of their lack of foresight. This technology encompasses the treatment of chronic diseases, promoting stress management, a better understanding of environmental factors that are ruining our health and sensitizing the society to come to the aid of the ailing people.

Here are some of the Lifestyle Medicine Technology which provide great help in preventing and getting rid of lifestyle diseases:

Pedometer: It is a device that counts the number of steps you take in a day. It is also known as a step counter. Some pedometers also tell you about how many miles or kilometres you have walked and how many calories you have burnt throughout the day.

Accelerometers: It is a movement sensor which is capable of measuring light-intensity physical activity and sedentary behaviour. As its name suggests, the device measures accelerations.

Heart Rate Monitors on Treadmill: They are very helpful in maintaining a good cardiovascular health. Your maximum possible heart rate is usually about 220 minus your age. So, for a 20-year-old, the maximum heart rate would be around 200 beats per minute. The recommended heart rate while exercising should be 60 to 80 per cent of your maximum heart rate. So, it becomes highly important to have a heart rate monitor on treadmill to avoid any problems.

Bioelectrical impedance analysis: It is a very effective tool to measure estimated body composition, and in particular body fat. It helps you in analysing your body and which part of it requires some fat and which part needs to lose some.