Lifestyle Medicine
“Lifestyle Medicine promotes… dare we say it,
​even regression of ​many chronic conditions”
(Dr Hamish Meldrum, President of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine)
Lifestyle Medicine focuses on how you can influence your own health and healing capacity.  ​It considers the therapeutic value of:
  • diet
  • exercise
  • reducing stress
  • sunlight and Vitamin D  
  • the quality of relationships
  • psychological and emotional states
  • relaxation and meditation techniques 
  • habits such as smoking or drinking alcohol
  • environmental - at home, work & elsewhere, and
  • sense of connection, meaning and purpose.

It's about good common sense, backed up by good evidence.  ​Scientific evidence consistently shows that adopting a healthy lifestyle helps:
  • prevent chronic illness
  • minimise side effects of medical treatment
  • manage pain, and
  • promote healing.

What's all the fuss about stress?

These days, many of us feel constantly under pressure, running from task to task, with an endless list of ‘to dos’.
We feel anxious or grumpy; have difficulty sleeping; ‘loose our cool’ in traffic, with the kids, dog, partner…  
Our heads are in a whirl, and it’s hard to think clearly.  It becomes difficult to remember simple things.
We’re tossed about by events, competing demands, non-stop thoughts, up and down emotions.
We may eat more junk than we’d like, exercise less than we should, indulge
in excess screen time because we’re too tired to do anything else,
or racing to get more things done sooner. 

We accept this as normal. 
​
Well, isn't it?
​The Good
We experience stress when we feel challenged or threatened.  We need a certain amount of stress to face challenges: pass an exam, give birth, apply for a job...  Stress can even be fun: watching a scary movie, kicking a winning goal, skydiving... 

Whether a challenge or threat is fun or distressing, whether it’s happening now, or remembered, or imagined, our body responds automatically to prepare us for action. 

Our muscles contract and a cascade of chemicals are released to increase our heart rate, induce inflammation, and constrict blood flow and non-emergency functions like digestion and immunity. 

When we perceive that a real or imagined challenge or threat is over, our body relaxes, stress hormones decrease and relaxation hormones increase.  Our heart rate slows, blood flows, digestion resumes, inflammation decreases, and our immune system ‘swings into action’.

As we return to a state of ease, our body starts to rest, digest, heal and repair.  Eventually we return to our natural state - peaceful, vibrant and content.
​​The Bad
It's obvious, when we’re stressed often, or for long periods, we rarely relax.  It also obvious that these days, our normal way of being is not peaceful, vibrant and content, but stressed - not the good type.  So what does that mean if our stress hormones run constantly, our heart rate and blood pressure remain high, and our digestion and immunity are compromised? 

Scientific research explains the link between chronic stress,
​premature ageing and chronic illness:
​​
TedEd  ​How Stress Makes Us Sick ​

​National Geographic  The Science of Stress.
​The Ugly
If chronic stress becomes normal, the biological system designed to help us, can kill us: 

Article, 2010  The Impact of Stress on Cancer Metastasis

Channel 9 News, 2016  The Link Between Stress & Spread of Cancer
If you're unclear what to do, how to do it, the best place to start is with good support.  At Noble Heart Therapy, we can help.  Even when you’re confident about the choices you’ve made, it can be difficult putting them into practice and maintaining a new lifestyle.  We can support you along the way.

We also provide on-going support for people who've attended programs run by The Gawler Cancer Foundation.