Beyond weight – Medical Wellness and Longevity and prevention of chronic disease

Beyond weight – Medical Wellness and Longevity and prevention of chronic disease

While weight is in the international spotlight thanks to new revolutionary pharmaceutical products, it’s just one facet of a holistic approach to patient health.

Traditionally, health has been considered as the absence of disease. But increasingly it is becoming recognised that health is not just a measure of illness but of overall wellbeing. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity“1. This definition encompasses many components such as good physical health, positive social relationships, availability and access to basic resources like shelter and income, genetics, and sleep2.

As a healthcare provider, it’s important to consider your patient’s overall state of wellbeing rather than just their physical health or just one aspect of their physical health.

Becoming increasingly recognised is the gap between lifespan and healthspan. While lifespan, which is defined as the total number of years we live, continues to increase globally, healthspan, which is the number of years we remain healthy and free from disease, lags behind3.

 

 

Like lifespan, healthspan has also increased in the recent decade, but they are not increasing at the same rate4, creating a healthspan gap. This means that as people age, they live longer with chronic illnesses and conditions usually associated with ageing.

In recent years, the public’s interest in improving their health and “living well” has increased. There is a greater public awareness of the importance of healthy lifestyles, fitness, nutrition and mental health5.

The COVID-19 pandemic shifted peoples’ attitudes towards self-care strongly. Recently, 65% of people in the UK and other European countries said they are more likely to consider their health in everyday decision making, compared to before 2020. And 77% of people in the UK consider it important to take their health into their own hands to relieve the burden on health systems6.

As a medical aesthetics/private healthcare provider, you are in a unique position to help your patients improve their wellbeing. Unlike in many other areas of medicine, where patients are only likely to see their doctors when something is wrong, you are ideally positioned to take action early. By taking an interest in your patients’ overall health and wellbeing, you could help them reduce or even prevent the onset of chronic conditions.

 

 

One of the ways to do this is by paying attention to a patient’s metabolic health. This is a broad term to describe the way in which the body makes, processes or stores energy. Being metabolically healthy means that your body is able to beneficially digest and absorb nutrients from food in a way that reduces your risk of developing certain conditions7. This is also a way to broaden your clinic’s offering to a wider patient group than those with a higher level BMI.

To learn more about Metabolic Health, Inflammaging, Medical Wellness and Longevity for a private medical setting in the UK please enrol in our other available courses.

References:

  1. World Health Organisation Major Themes: Health and Welbeing. 2023. Available at https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/major-themes/health-and-well-being#:~:text=The%20WHO%20constitution%20states%3A%20%22Health,of%20mental%20
    disorders%20or%20disabilities.

  2. Hennessey, C., et al., 1994, Measuring Health-Related Quality of Life for Public Health Surveillance

  3. Garmany et al., 2021, Longevity leap: mind the healthspan gap, available at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34556664/

  4. Martinez, R., 2021, Life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and burden of disease in older people in the Americas, 1990–2019: a population-based study. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8489742/

  5. Puttaiah, R., 2020, Swiss Re Institute, All change: how COVID-19 is transforming consumer behaviour. Available at: https://www.swissre.com/institute/research/topics-and-risk-dialogues/health-and-longevity/covid-19-consumer-behaviour.html

  6. GSK, 2020, Available at: https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/covid-19-prompts-increased-focus-on-self-care-with-europeans-taking-their-health-more-seriously-to-relieve-pressure-on-healthcare-systems/

  7. Hewings-Martin, Y., 2022, What is metabolic health?, Available at: https://zoe.com/learn/what-is-metabolic-health
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