Lifestyle Medicine
What we do day in and day out has a huge effect, positive or negative, on health and well being. The extent and quality of diet, sleep, social relations, psycholgtical habits and exercise are huge determinants of health or disease. This was obvious throughout much of the history of medicine, but as medicine developed more potent interventions the emphasis on Lifestyle was replaced by drugs and surgery. The limits of this apporach are becoming clear and Lifestyle Medicine is back in focus.
Lifestyle factors are the major cause of death in the U.S. Lifestyle alterations can make a huge impact on health, well being and cognitive functioning.
The obesity epidemic may not be just a matter of lifestyle because animals are also getting heavier. Over the past several decades, average mid-life body weights have risen among primates and rodents living in research colonies, as well as among feral rodents and domestic dogs and cats. The consistency of these findings among animals living in varying environments, suggests the possibility that the aetiology of increasing body weight may involve several as-of-yet unidentified and/or poorly understood factors (e.g. viral pathogens, epigenetic factors). Read the research article