Sets up a dedicated department to address lifestyle diseases

Aster CMI Hospital, one of the renowned healthcare institutes in the city announced the launch of Lifestyle Medicine Program (LMP) today to help people with various lifestyle diseases and better manage their condition. The hospital is also setting up a new department that focuses on providing medical treatment and care on these lines. This LMP is the first hospital-based, physician-led lifestyle program conducted for the first time in India. C. N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood of Karnataka was the chief guest of the program and inaugurated the newly launched department.

According to WHO, non-communicable diseases or NCDs, of which lifestyle diseases are a part, claim 41 million lives annually, which is over 70% of all deaths across the globe. Of these, over 15 million deaths occur among people in the age band of 30 to 69 years. In India, NCDs claim 6 million lives.

Aster’s Lifestyle Medicine Program is an initiation and a promising start. It is an established program in hospitals, helping specialty doctors and very few hospitals across the world have it.  Smoking, drinking, drugs, exposure to pollutants at work or home, lack of physical activity, restricted movement for prolonged hours, poor or unhealthy eating habits, high-stress levels, poor and/or little sleep are some of the causes of lifestyle diseases. The program focuses on addressing these issues and management through the six pillars – food/nutrition, exercise/physical activities/fitness, sleep hygiene, stress management, substance abuse and positive psychology. The program emphasizes adopting a healthy lifestyle at an early stage to avoid these diseases later in life.

Commenting on the program, C. N. Ashwath Narayan, said “In India, lifestyle diseases are one of the biggest killers today. Often, many of us think that these diseases are bound to happen when we reach a certain age. However, these can be prevented if we follow a healthy lifestyle. The focus should be on early prevention. I would like to congratulate Aster CMI Hospital on starting this program, which will help in spreading awareness and help people to make the right choices for themselves”.

Dr. Mythri Shankar, Lead consultant – Nuclear Medicine, Aster CMI Hospital, said “Lifestyle diseases arise because of the way we lead our life. Heart disease, Atherosclerosis, Stroke, Respiratory ailments, Obesity and Type 2 diabetes are some of the common lifestyle diseases and the number is rising exponentially across the country, especially in urban areas. Keeping this in mind, we are launching the Lifestyle Medicine Program to help treat chronic diseases, help patients modify their lifestyles and build the skills needed to lead a healthy life. There has been a paradigm shift in how we look at these diseases, earlier we used to treat them symptomatically but this program will help address the root cause. We are proud to be the first hospital in India to start this. I hope with this program, patients will get benefited from it and help reduce the burden of lifestyle in India”.