Preventing and managing chronic health conditions is a key part of our role as your GP, and it has long been recognised that taking a holistic approach to your health has a significant and lasting impact on your overall physical and mental wellbeing, as well as alleviating long-term health concerns.
Lifestyle Medicine is evidence-based clinical care that aims to improve your health and wellbeing by focusing on six pillars. These are mental wellbeing, physical activity, healthy relationships, healthy eating, sleep and minimising the use of harmful substances.
Dr Shuting Xiong of GP London W1 practices as a GP with a specialist interest in Lifestyle Medicine, which is a globally recognised medical discipline with a strong evidence base and widespread practice.
This focuses on empowering patients, giving them practical tools, advice and support to take back control of their health and achieve sustainable improvements.
What is the role of regular health checks in Lifestyle Medicine?
Forewarned is forearmed, and we recommend having a full health check regularly to ensure everything is working as it should. This can include:
During this process, the doctor will talk to you about your lifestyle, to assess what impact that might be having on your health. They will then schedule a follow-up appointment to discuss the results of your blood tests and to make a plan for how to improve your health in the long term.
How can Lifestyle Medicine help you manage your weight?
We are all familiar with weight-loss medications, and if you have a great deal of weight to lose to reach a healthy BMI, this may be an option. However, the vast majority of patients are able to achieve a healthy weight just by making a few adjustments to their lifestyle, such as:
What is sleep hygiene and why is it important?
Getting a good night’s sleep regularly can have a huge positive impact on your health. And the really good news is that many of these lifestyle factors are interconnected – so by eating well and exercising more, the chances are your sleep will naturally improve. Other things you can try are:
If you have tried all of this and are still struggling, our doctors are on hand to offer help and advice.
How can our GPs support you in building a healthy lifestyle?
We all know that drinking too much alcohol is bad for our health, just as we know that smoking can do serious damage to our lungs. But that doesn’t always make it easy to stop. Our staff are specially trained to give you the support you need to kick these unhealthy habits and get started on a new, healthy lifestyle.
All of these things might sound simple, but dealing with them can be overwhelming – particularly if you are trying to tackle more than one issue at once. Our GPs are on hand to help you make a plan and support you to carry it through.
For more information, please contact us.