As a practicing clinician, mostly when I advise lifestyle changes as a part of the treatment in any Chronic illness e.g. Diabetes, Hypertension, PCOS etc. the patient gives me “The Look”. It’s a look that says a lot of things, a few of which are:
- “why are you telling me something I already know?”
- “Can’t you just cure me with medicines?”
- “Have you even studied medicine?!”
All this because the importance of lifestyle changes as the mainstay of treatment of chronic illnesses is so underrated.
Lifestyle changes add greatly to the effectiveness of the treatment provided by clinicians. The cause of chronic illnesses is mostly physical or mental stress or unhealthy dietary habits. Changing from a stressful environment, eating healthy, getting proper sleep and exercises not only improve the current response to medication but in most cases, changes made at the right time, prevent the occurrence of the illness. It might take some time to show results, but once that happens, it can also lead to lower dependance on medication and improved quality of life overall.