American College of Lifestyle Medicine Announces Inaugural National Lifestyle Medicine Week May 28 to June 2
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) today announced the first-ever National Lifestyle Medicine Week, with the new annual observance this year slated to run from May 28 to June 2. The observance week will highlight the benefits of employing evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine therapeutic approaches of a whole food, plant-predominant dietary lifestyle, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, stress management, avoiding use of risky substances and social connectedness, to treat, reverse and prevent chronic disease.
ST. LOUIS, May 22, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) today announced a new annual health observance, National Lifestyle Medicine Week, to take place May 28 to June 2. The observance week will highlight the benefits of employing each of the evidence-based therapeutic approaches of Lifestyle Medicine: a whole food, plant-predominant dietary lifestyle, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, stress management, avoiding use of risky substances and social connectedness, to treat, reverse and prevent chronic disease.
Information about the week is available at https://lmweek.org.
"Lifestyle Medicine is synonymous with value-based care, as Lifestyle Medicine delivers superior patient outcomes, while significantly reducing costs," said ACLM Executive Director Susan Benigas. "Patient empowerment is at the core of Lifestyle Medicine. Patients are educated, equipped and empowered to take far greater control of their health destinies by identifying and eradicating the root causes of disease. A Lifestyle Medicine-first approach is the real health care reform our nation so desperately needs."
Celebrating its 15th year as the only medical professional society in the U.S. dedicated to this specialty, ACLM is a growing organization of more than 3,000 physicians and other health professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of Lifestyle Medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable health care system. Interest in Lifestyle Medicine is growing rapidly among physicians and other health professionals who want to learn about treating root-causes of disease—what they did not learn in medical school or in other health care-related training. Medical professionals, patients and those on Capitol Hill are awakening to the unsustainable prevalence of chronic disease and the associated costs that stand to jeopardize the solvency and security of our nation.
Chronic disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. Rates of chronic disease have never been higher, with cost of chronic conditions—rooted in poor lifestyle choices—consuming as much as 86% of all health care dollars spent. Chronic disease is so common that more than half of U.S. adults have at least one condition. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes and 40% of cancer could be prevented, primarily with improvements to diet and lifestyle. Employers foot a hefty bill for the cost of treating chronic disease. The top five chronic conditions (obesity, hypertension, physical inactivity, smoking and diabetes) annually cost $36.4 billion to the bottom line in employee absenteeism.
The field of Lifestyle Medicine is growing across the world on every continent. Some 16 international Lifestyle Medicine organizations are now represented by the Lifestyle Medicine Global Alliance. The Lifestyle Medicine physician has been recognized by the Association of American Medical Colleges as one of the top five emerging medical careers. Board certification is also available. ACLM partners with the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine to provide physician and professional board certification. Since 2017 in the U.S., 423 MD/DO physicians have received board certification and 136 PhD/master's level clinicians and bachelor-level nurses have received professional certification.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE: ACLM is the medical professional society providing quality education and certification to those dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of Lifestyle Medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable health care system. Lifestyle Medicine treats, often reverses and prevents chronic disease through the combined use of evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic approaches, such as a whole food, plant-predominant dietary lifestyle, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, stress management, avoiding use of risky substances and social connectedness, to treat, reverse, and prevent chronic disease. ACLM members are united in their desire to identify and eradicate the root cause of disease and create a new systems approach to health. Learn more at http://www.lifestylemedicine.org. For information and to register for Lifestyle Medicine 2019, visit http://www.lifestylemedicineconference.org.
SOURCE The American College of Lifestyle Medicine
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