What can doctors do to promote healthy, life-extending lifestyle changes?
A seminal paper published in Europe more than a decade ago titled “Healthy Living is the Best Revenge” found that practicing four simple, healthy lifestyle elements could potentially have a stronger effect on preventing chronic disease than doing nothing at all. The risk of chronic disease is reduced by nearly 80%, the risk of diabetes is reduced by 93%, the risk of heart attack is reduced by 81%, the risk of stroke is cut in half, and the risk of cancer is reduced by 36%. Let’s think about what that means. The potential to prevent disease and death is enormous. In the United States alone, there are 500,000 first heart attacks, 500,000 first strokes, 1 million new cases of diabetes, and 1 million new cancer diagnoses each year. The message is clear. Practicing a few healthy behaviors can make a big difference.
What are those four legendary elements?
Don’t smoke; Be not obese; Follow healthy eating principles, such as eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and less meat; and get about 30 minutes of exercise a day on average.
Follow these four simple rules. The risk of major chronic diseases is reduced by almost 80%.
What does that mean for mortality risk? As I explain in my video “How to Extend Your Life Expectancy from 12 to 14 Years,” a similar combination of four healthy behaviors predicted “a fourfold difference in total mortality rates for men and women, with an estimated impact equivalent to 14 chronological years.” This means that people’s mortality rates are decreasing as if they were 14 years younger. “Finally, a prescription for extending human lifespan,” declared the commentary, referencing a study that conducted a similar analysis of the impact of healthy lifestyle behaviors on life expectancy. This time, however, we directly surveyed the U.S. population. This is especially important. That’s because Americans have a lower life expectancy than people living in nearly every other high-income country. Researchers concluded that a healthy lifestyle could significantly reduce premature mortality and increase life expectancy among U.S. adults. Okay, but how much? They estimated that adhering to a low-risk lifestyle could increase life expectancy at age 50 by 14 years for women and 12.2 years for men. This means that if you are 50 years old today, instead of only living until 79 years for women and 75 and a half for men in the United States, with basic care you could extend your life expectancy to 93 years for women and 87 and a half for men.
The bottom line is that it’s never too late to turn back the clock. Simply switching to the basics in midlife: eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, walking 20 minutes a day, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight can lead to significant reductions in mortality even in subsequent years. That means a 40% lower risk of death over the next four years. In fact, “making the necessary changes to adhere to a healthy lifestyle is extremely valuable, and it’s never too late to act, even in midlife.”
As a side note, when I learned that the 12-14 year increase in life expectancy was based on data from medical experts, I got excited about all the potential ramifications. As medical professionals begin to become healthier, they can become role models for healthier living and potentially save more lives than just their own. But that may have been wishful thinking. Practicing what we preach can backfire. Apparently, “shows of excellence can paradoxically turn off the very people they are trying to inspire.”
It is natural to think that not being a hypocrite and trying to follow the right path will give confidence to others and lead to positive results. Don’t you want a dance instructor who can dance, a music instructor who can play, and a healthy medical worker? But “this simple intuition does not take into account concerns about the diminishing value that good behavior in professionals elicits in others,” meaning that it can make people feel inadequate. For example, do you know how vegetarians are often the subject of ridicule and hostility because they are perceived as morally superior and can make others feel disrespected?
This phenomenon has been brilliantly demonstrated in a study in which “those who deviate from the principles of following the high road threaten the moral self-respect of others.” Participants were asked to complete a “racist task,” and “moral traitors” who refused were cheered by observers and scorned by other participants who completed the task. why? Because the rebels’ attitude “implicitly indicts their spinelessness.” Don’t you think it’s interesting?
So when a doctor portrays himself or herself as a “model of health,” patients may think they are holier-than-thou and may unintentionally alienate those who need the doctor’s help the most. It’s easy to imagine how someone with weight issues would feel threatened and judged by a triathlete who is a doctor. But what should we do? We are looking for healthy practitioners. Doctors who smoke are less likely to tell patients to quit smoking, doctors who are overweight are less likely to advise about weight loss, and doctors who don’t exercise are less likely to talk about exercise. What doctors can do to make patients more comfortable is to emphasize that their role is to help people achieve their personal health goals, whatever they may be. Research shows that when physicians take this approach, they increase the appeal of “fitness-focused” physicians to overweight patients. This allows physicians to demonstrate exemplary behavior without inadvertently alienating those who would benefit most from their advice.
doctor’s note
For more information on lifestyle-related diseases, please see the related articles below.
