Putting a spotlight on lifestyle medicine to prevent chronic disease

Patients often talk about wanting to increase their lifespan, says Michael Suk, MD, JD, MPH, MBA. 

He wants them to instead focus on their health span.

A person can live to be 100, but if they are suffering from chronic disease or other illnesses the entire time, “that wouldn’t be a very effective and productive life,” said Dr. Suk, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees. “You could live to 90, which is less of a duration, but if you’re living in a healthy and productive way, that’s probably far more beneficial in terms of the way we think about the span of the course of our lives.”

Having a quality health span is a key tenet of lifestyle medicine, which is a growing medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions to treat chronic conditions. Dr. Suk, who is a diplomate of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine, spoke about the specialty in a recent episode of “AMA Update.”

As an orthopaedic surgeon and chair of Geisinger’s Musculoskeletal Institute and orthopaedic surgery department, Dr. Suk knows better than most about the impact chronic conditions can have on the body.

Geisinger is a member of the AMA Health System Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.

More than 1.7 billion people have some sort of musculoskeletal condition. And according to the World Health Organization, musculoskeletal conditions are the leading contributor to disability worldwide. Low back pain—a common musculoskeletal condition—is the most common cause of disability in 160 countries. 

The best way to prevent these types of conditions is to introduce more physical activity into everyday lifestyles.

“The world of musculoskeletal medicine is largely about activity,” Dr. Suk said. “It’s about restoration of physical function.”

That doesn’t mean Dr. Suk tells every patient with musculoskeletal issues to go join a gym. He starts with a simple statement. 

“Getting off the couch is better than sitting on the couch,” he said.

His goal is to promote physical activity for multiple reasons. Being active can help prevent chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis or chronic back pain. If surgery is needed to treat a musculoskeletal condition, physical activity can also prepare that patient from a prehabilitation standpoint, with the hope that it will make the recovery process easier. 

Physical activity is also one of the six pillars of lifestyle medicine. The other pillars are nutrition, stress management, restorative sleep, social connection and avoidance of risky substances.

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine provides an explanation of each pillar. They are:

• Physical activity: Engaging in regular and consistent physical activity.
• Nutrition: Consuming a fiber-filled, nutrient-dense, antioxidant-rich eating pattern.
• Stress management: Incorporating stress-reducing behaviors into everyday life.
• Restorative sleep: Targeting seven to nine hours of high-quality sleep every night.
• Social connection: Strengthening and maintaining relationships that provide meaning and purpose.
• Avoidance of risky substances: Reducing or eliminating exposure to or consumption of substances that could cause harm.

“Chronic disease is a part of every patient who we treat, regardless of your specialty,” Dr. Suk said. “For me, an orthopaedic surgeon, focusing on one, two or three of the six pillars of lifestyle medicine can actually help my patients get better, be healthier, and in the case that they need orthopaedic surgery, be better equipped and in better shape to have it done.”‘

The same can be said for any other medical specialty, Dr. Suk said. That is why he believes lifestyle medicine can be such a powerful asset.

And he’s not alone. 

The rising interest in lifestyle medicine is clear. The American College of Lifestyle Medicine was founded in 2004. Twenty years later, it has more than 11,000 members. 

In June 2024, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine was inducted into the AMA House of Delegates.

Dr. Suk is not surprised by the growing support for the specialty. He also is not surprised when patients question the efficacy of lifestyle medicine. 

His response to those patients—and anyone who questions the specialty’s effectiveness—is simple. 

Just start.

“It’s important to just take the first step, whether it’s increasing your sleep by an hour and trying to get to a goal of eight hours of sleep, whether it’s saying, ‘Let’s moderate our alcohol intake around the holidays,’ or whether it’s, ‘I want to get off the couch instead of sitting on it for an hour,'” he said. “These are the small steps that can happen.” 

With the right physician “and the right advice and the right kind of attitude, you can make gigantic leaps that will help in the world of increasing your health span and ultimately lead to what I think is a more productive life that’s filled with less chronic disease,” Dr. Suk added.

“AMA Update” is your source for physician-focused news. Hear from physicians and other experts on trending public health concerns, practice issues and more—because who’s doing the talking matters. Catch every episode by subscribing to the AMA’s YouTube channel or listen to all AMA podcasts at ama-assn.org/podcasts.