November Lifestyle Medicine Insider News and Updates

Disclaimer: 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.

Notable

• The Danish government has published the first-ever national action plan outlining how the country can transition towards a more plant-based food system.
• As reported in this recent article in The Guardian, the group US Right to Know claims that almost half of the 2030 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DAGC) members have significant ties to big agriculture, ultra-processed food companies, pharmaceutical companies and other corporate organizations with a significant stake in the process’s outcome.
• A new study suggests that chronic disease among older Americans is the biggest factor affecting life expectancy.
• ACLM partner the Primary Care Collaborative has issued its 2023 PCC Evidence Report, “Health is Primary: Charting a Path to Equity and Sustainability,” looking at factors driving the downward trends in primary care: fewer clinicians practicing primary care, fewer available primary care appointments for patients, lower spending on primary care as a share of total spending, and fewer adults reporting that they have a usual source of primary care.
• With the prevalence of some chronic diseases trending up, the U.S. needs to revamp its approaches to preventative care and disease management, experts said at the recent Milken Future of Health Summit.

Health Equity

• According to 2022–2023 data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reported in The Lancet, only 1% of total enrolled medical students self-identified as American Indian or Alaska Native. AI/AN medical students were the only racial group that did not experience an absolute increase in medical school enrollment.
• This article outlines a CDC report showing the U.S. infant mortality rate rose 3% in 2022. There were 610 more infant deaths in 2022 over 2021, with increases among all ethnicity groups except for infants born to Asian women. Deaths among infants of Black women remained the highest of all ethnicity groups, and the mortality rate for infants of Native American or Alaskan Native women also increased significantly. This is the first year-over-year increase since 2001-2002.

Health Systems

• Becker’s Hospital Review asked C-suite executives from hospitals and health systems across the U.S. to share their organization’s areas of growth for the next few years. Here are their responses.

Military Health

• U.S. Army Fort Jackson in Louisiana has opened Victory Fresh at the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Academy. Victory Fresh, a healthy alternative to fast food, offers heathy grab-and-go wraps and salads, as well as a build-your-own power bowl available to service members, Department of Defense civilians, and their guests.

CHRONIC DISEASE

Type 2 Diabetes

• A study by ACLM’s LM23 speakers Walter Willett, Frank Hu, et. al., published in this American Journal of Clinical Nutrition article, supports current dietary recommendations for limiting consumption of red meat intake and emphasizes the importance of different alternative sources of protein for T2D prevention.
• Emerging data show an increased use of continuing glucose monitors among people with prediabetes, especially those with an HbA1c of 6% or higher, and those with gestational diabetes.

Cancer

• Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has received a $4-million, five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to study whether lifestyle interventions such as exercise and intermittent fasting in patients with advanced breast cancer help them better tolerate treatment side effects.
• A randomized trial of an exercise and nutrition intervention on chemotherapy relative dose intensity and pathologic complete response in women diagnosed with breast cancer was reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Cardiovascular Disease

• The Portfolio Diet Score was associated with a lower risk of CVD, including CHD and stroke, and a more favorable blood lipid and inflammatory profile, in three large prospective cohorts in a study published in Circulation.

Overweight and Obesity

• Weight loss companies Weight Watchers and Noom both now offer access to anti-obesity medications in a shift from their dieting approaches, and Noom recently announced that it is expanding its Noom Med service to its employer benefits program.
• Some researchers publishing in BMJ are expressing optimism about an apparent plateau in prevalence of unhealthy weight among children in some high-income countries, particularly among young children.
• A new study extended the benefits of diet and exercise from mere weight loss to the loss of harmful, visceral fat in older people.

CKD

• Data presented at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2023 conference showed nearly all patients in a recent study reported difficulty implementing lifestyle changes recommended by their physician, but successful implementation led to improvements across several dimensions of physical health, mental health, and overall quality of life.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

• Nutrition and modifiable factors can prevent or promote non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, according to this BMJ article.

Behavioral Health

• The economic burden of brain and mental health-related disorders has prompted the need for a “brain science-inspired industrial strategy” that will build America’s brain capital. A full explanation of this strategy and a road map of how to achieve it were unveiled at the recent United Nations General Assembly Science Summit and reported on by Rice University.
• This Vital Signs report contains an analysis from the CDC Quality of Worklife survey focused on well-being and working conditions, comparing data from 2018 to 2022. Reports of poor mental health symptoms increased more for health workers than for other worker groups.

PILLARS

Nutrition

• A review in Preventive Nutrition and Food Science discusses the latest insights into innovative approaches used to extract proteins from underutilized legumes.
• Protein from plant-based sources is examined in this article from ACLM partner American Institute for Cancer Research.
• From unexpected flavor combinations to plant-based foods galore, here are the 10 trends Whole Foods says to look out for in 2024, discussed in this Eating Well article.
• A recent study published in The BMJ reports that ultra-processed foods can be as addictive as smoking.
• A study published in Circulation explained the first randomized controlled trial of its kind, a produce prescription program significantly improved HbA1c among low-income patients on Medicaid with poor glycemic control at baseline.

Physical Activity

• Researchers in this Psychology Today article say resistance exercise can help almost anyone control cognitive decline.
• Exercising for at least 30 minutes three times a week can be just as effective as Viagra and similar medications at improving erectile function, according to a new analysis published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
• Prolonged sitting raises your odds for an early death, but just 20 to 25 minutes of physical activity a day may offset that risk, researchers found in a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Avoidance of Risky Substances

• Is there a “healthier” alcoholic drink? The Cleveland Clinic answers.

Food for Thought

• The tools designed to enhance our health awareness, such as wearables and digital health metrics, can inadvertently lead to “digital health anxiety,” causing stress and self-doubt, according to a writer in The Medical Futurist.
• This Forbes article asks why, by so many measures—most notably cost relative to population outcomes—our system not only often lags behind those of our peer countries, it fails to live up to the incredibly high standards most of us expect of our healthcare system.
• An analysis of content accuracy reported in Cureus revealed that ChatGPT provided reasonably accurate information in the majority of the cases, successfully addressing queries related to lifestyle-related diseases or disorders.
• A new report from IHME on the Pandemic Recovery Survey offers insights on the effects of the pandemic on health care and health-seeking behavior, attitudes, and practices around vaccinations, education, and household financial and food security in 21 countries.
• This opinion piece in The Hill says the NIH must address our abysmal diet and nutrition.
• Stat explores why preventative care is such a tough sell in the U.S. according to chronic disease experts.