What is Lifestyle Medicine?

Lifestyle medicine is a sub-specialisation in modern conventional medicine that focuses on treating the underlying determinants of disease, rather than only treating the presenting symptoms. In other words, the focus is on treating the cause as well as the symptoms and biomarkers such as high blood pressure.

 

Over the past thirty to forty years, with the rapid advancements in industrial agriculture and modern living conditions, there has been a marked shift in the pattern of medical conditions from predominantly acute to predominantly chronic conditions. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, approximately 70% of primary health care visits relate to lifestyle-based and environmental (and therefore preventable) factors.

 

There is a long list for chronic conditions which includes diabetes and pre-diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, gastrointestinal disorders, chronic fatigue, some autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, chronic pain (including hip and joint pain), sleep disorders and many forms of stress and anxiety.

 

The challenge from a medical perspective is that chronic conditions do not cause immediate illness like acute conditions do. For example, contracting an infection will cause a person to seek immediate treatment, however, most people do not seek treatment for chronic conditions until they have progressed to a point where the organs are under severe stress and are not functioning properly. Diagnosis is therefore delayed due to the nature of these conditions. Once diagnosed, chronic conditions cannot be treated with medications alone because the cause persists and the medications do not go beyond managing the symptoms.  

 

At LifeMed, we combine conventional and lifestyle medicine approaches to provide a holistic approach to your care. Our treatment approach is collaborative and requires you to be an active partner in your care which often involves making big lifestyle changes.

 

How It Works

A lifestyle medicine consultation includes a standard assessment of your medical history, presenting symptoms, diet and lifestyle routines. A referral from your regular GP is not required but you will be asked to provide baseline medical records as part of the onboarding process.

 

Dr Mehdi will carefully assess your biomarkers and lifestyle habits and make individualised evidenced-based recommendations to help drive improvements. This may include advice around nutrition, activity, sleep, prescription of medications and/or recommendations on supplements.

 

Treatment is almost always long-term in lifestyle medicine. Dr Mehdi will monitor you closely by tracking changes in your biomarkers and lifestyle modifications and evaluate their impact on your health and vitality.

 

Onboarding Process

If you are booking an initial consultation, you will be asked to complete an onboarding questionnaire and provide blood test results performed within 3 months of the date of the consultation.

 

The requisite blood tests are: Fasting Lipid, Fasting Sugar, Fasting Insulin, Vitamin D, LFT, TSH, U/E, ACR (Urine Test).

 

Please note that your appointment cannot proceed if we do not receive the requisite blood test results and onboarding questionnaire one day before the consultation.

 

Follow Up Appointments

You will be provided with a two-week program in your first appointment and asked to book a follow up appointment once you have completed the program. You can then book follow up appointments as required and depending on your treatment plan.