Lifestyle Medicine News and Updates – July 2023

The information included in Insider is intended to give our readers a sense of what is happening in the news, research journals and other channels related to lifestyle medicine. Inclusion does not imply ACLM endorsement. Note that some links may require registration or subscription.

PRODUCE PRESCRIPTIONS

• In a study modeling implementation of a nationwide produce prescription program providing free or discounted fruits and vegetables to eligible Americans living with diabetes just published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, Tufts researchers projected at least a $40 billion reduction in national rates of cardiovascular disease and associated healthcare costs.

HEALTH EQUITY

• A newly issued policy from the American Medical Association’s Council on Science & Public Health advises doctors to pay less attention to body mass index (BMI) in determining if a patient is at a healthy weight, saying the measure does not predict disease risk equally well across racial and ethnic groups.
• The Supreme Court’s recent ruling on affirmative action will hurt healthcare, as diversity in medical school has life or death implications, according to this Bloomberg opinion author.
• A new series in The Lancet uses a health equity perspective to review the large body of work on diabetes and its consequences, and discusses the complex and intersecting ways in which structural inequity impacts social drivers of health and diabetes outcomes on a global scale. It predicts more than 1.3 billion people worldwide will have diabetes by 2050, more than double the current number.

CHRONIC DISEASE

TYPE 2 DIABETES

• The CDC recently published a research study about the use of incentives in lifestyle modification programs (like the National Diabetes Prevention Program) and how they can benefit participants.

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

• Training materials and related resources for TAKEheart, an AHRQ initiative to help hospitals increase participation in cardiac rehabilitation, are available here.
• A research letter published in Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine discusses predicting the presence of raised coronary plaque among adolescents and young adults.

CANCER

• Following her own diagnosis, a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center researcher’s focus became plant-based diets for cancer patients, as featured in MSK News.

MENTAL HEALTH

• A JAMA Psychiatry article discussed findings of a clinical trial on the effectiveness of outpatient lifestyle intervention among 224 people with severe mental illness compared with treatment as usual. The lifestyle intervention was effective in reducing weight in people with severe mental illness and may lead to reduced risk of cardiometabolic disorders.
• A comprehensive study published in NeuroScience News underscores the alarming link between social isolation, loneliness, and heightened mortality risks. The meta-analysis, involving over two million participants, found a significant increase in all-cause mortality rates for socially isolated and lonely individuals, with risks exacerbated for individuals with pre-existing health conditions like cardiovascular disease or breast cancer.
• A Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) study comparing meditation with medicine for patients with anxiety disorders is in progress.

PILLARS

NUTRITION

• The Washington Post examines ultra-processed food in this feature. [Note: requires subscription]
• Frequent nut consumption was linked to reduced cognitive decline for at-risk older adults, according to the results of research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
• Medicare Advantage beneficiaries given home-delivered meals in the four weeks after being discharged from a hospital were not only less likely to be readmitted within 30 days, they were also less likely to die, according to a study in JAMA Health Forum.
• Only 5% of men and 9% of women are getting the recommended daily amount of dietary fiber, according to a study presented at the recent American Society for Nutrition’s Nutrition 2023 meeting.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

• The HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has issued its “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Implementation Strategies for Older Adults.”
• A systematic review and meta-analysis of exercise interventions on inflammation markers in patients with overweight/obesity and heart failure was published in IJC Heart and Vasculature.
• This study published in Cureus encourages clinicians to advise high-risk patients on physical activity for the reduction of weight in prediabetic, obese, and type 2 diabetes patients.
• Higher-intensity activity has greater effects on cardiorespiratory fitness and is likely to be more protective against the risk of developing and dying from certain cancers according to this study in JAMA Network Open.

SLEEP

• A study in Sleep Health explored another perk of regular power naps beyond logging additional sleep: that they can be positively linked to brain health.
• Short sleep negates benefits of exercise for the brain, according to a study published in The Lancet.

MILITARY HEALTH

• The six pillars of lifestyle and performance medicine continue to spread throughout care in the Military Health System, as reported in this Health.mil story featuring ACLM member and U.S. Air Force Col. (Dr.) Mary Anne Kiel, chair of the Defense Health Agency Primary Care Clinical Community.

PARTNERS IN THE NEWS

• A CDC research brief published in Preventing Chronic Disease by researchers from ACLM Health Systems Council member Massachusetts General suggests that taking a “food is medicine” approach could increase nutrition security for families and lead to reductions in children’s body mass index (BMI). The study examined receipt of plant-based family food packages from Mass General’s Revere Food Pantry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Better Therapeutics received FDA authorization for AspyreRx™ to treat adults with type 2 diabetes. It is the first prescription digital behavioral therapeutic device delivering a novel form of cognitive behavioral therapy via smartphone.
• More than 400 staffers from 37 Congressional offices participated in the Physical Activity Alliance’s 2023 Congressional Physical Activity Challenge. You can see the results here.

MEMBERS IN THE NEWS

• Dawn Lewis, PA, DrPH, MBA, MAS, DipACLM, who recently graduated alongside her daughter in public health at Loma Linda University, was featured in this Adventist Review story.
• Jennifer Rooke, MD, MPH, FACPM, DipABLM, explains why people with diabetes should keep fruit on the menu in this article she wrote for Blue Zones.
• Kofi Essel, MD, MPH, FAAP, the first-ever food as medicine director for Elevance Health (formerly Anthem), was interviewed by Modern Healthcare.
• Saray Stancic, MD, DipABLM, FACLM, producer of the 2019 documentary “Code Blue” is one of the physicians featured in “Docs Making Docs: How Filmmaker MDs Tackle Big Health Issues,” an article recently published in Medscape.
• Recent poster presenters at the International Conference of Nurses Congress included Karla Rodriguez, DNP, CNE, NC-BC, DipACLM; Meryl Fury, MS, RN; and JoAnne Evans, MEd, RN, PMHCNS-BC.
• South Carolina Public Radio interviewed Erika Blank, MD, DipABLM, about treating certain chronic conditions with lifestyle changes.
• Michelle McMacken, MD, DipABLM, was named as one of “The Most Influential Women Leaders in Health Promotion” in this American Journal of Health Promotion editorial.
• Dawn Woods, PharmD, DipACLM’s article, “Lifestyle Medicine Presents Unexpected Opportunity for Pharmacists,” was recently published in Pharmacy Times.
• Orlando oncologist Amber Orman, MD, DipABLM, shared how a plant-based diet can help cancer patients in this “Florida Foodie” podcast.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

• To encourage plant-based diets, one writer in Behavioral Scientist suggests restaurants expand their plant-based selection and complement this expansion with changes to the structure of customer choices.
• One author, writing in Psychology Today, says we need to prioritize play.
• A satire of a physician’s typical day, as envisioned by a non-clinician healthcare MBA, was published in KevinMD.