Why Dr. Sarkar Is Pursuing Lifestyle Medicine

At Connected Health, we consider a number of the most significant conversations about your well being occur earlier than there’s a downside to deal with. How are you sleeping? What are you consuming? Are you shifting repeatedly? How are you managing stress? What habits might make a distinction not simply at this time, however years from now?

These are questions Dr. Chaitali Sarkar has lengthy been keen about, and now she is taking that curiosity a step additional by working towards certification in Lifestyle Medicine and finishing persevering with medical schooling (CME) centered on this rising space of drugs.

Lifestyle Medicine makes use of evidence-based life-style interventions as a part of the prevention and remedy of power illness, with a concentrate on six key pillars: diet, bodily exercise, restorative sleep, stress administration, avoidance of dangerous substances, and optimistic social connection.

We sat down with Dr. Sarkar to study extra about Lifestyle Medicine, why she is pursuing further coaching, and the way she hopes to deliver what she learns into her care at Connected Health.

Q: First, what precisely is Lifestyle Medicine?

Dr. Sarkar: Lifestyle Medicine seems to be on the on a regular basis components that have an effect on our well being—what we eat, how a lot we transfer, how effectively we sleep (and if you already know me, you already know I’m at all times going to speak about sleep!), how we handle stress, {our relationships} and social connections, and issues like tobacco and alcohol use.

The objective is to make use of these life-style components as a part of medical care to assist stop and handle power illness. It’s about recognizing that our day by day habits may be an essential a part of the remedy plan, too.

Q: What made you interested by pursuing certification in Lifestyle Medicine?

Dr. Sarkar: I’ve at all times been keen about prevention and serving to sufferers perceive what they will do to take a extra energetic function of their well being. So most of the circumstances we see every single day are influenced by life-style, and I wished to deepen my data and have much more instruments to assist sufferers make modifications which can be real looking and sustainable.

I’ve integrated many of those ideas into the way in which I observe drugs for years, so I’m excited to construct on that basis and formally have a Lifestyle Medicine certification beneath my belt. It’s a chance to broaden my data and convey much more evidence-based instruments and sensible suggestions again to my sufferers.

Q: How does Lifestyle Medicine match with the way in which you already observe at Connected Health?

Dr. Sarkar: I believe it matches very naturally. At Connected Health, now we have the time to essentially get to know our sufferers, not simply their medical historical past or lab outcomes, however their routines, challenges, objectives, and what’s occurring of their lives.

Lifestyle Medicine could be very personalised. There is not one plan that works for everybody. Having extra time with sufferers permits us to have these deeper conversations and work collectively on modifications that make sense for that particular person.

It additionally matches with our concentrate on being proactive slightly than ready till one thing is incorrect. If we are able to determine danger components earlier and assist sufferers make significant modifications, that is a vital a part of preventative care. One of the explanations I made the choice to depart AHN and transition to concierge drugs was that I did not really feel I had sufficient time with my sufferers to actually dig deeper and get to the foundation explanation for what they had been experiencing.

Q: What are a number of the primary areas Lifestyle Medicine focuses on?

Dr. Sarkar: There are six primary pillars: diet, bodily exercise, restorative sleep, stress administration, avoiding dangerous substances, and optimistic social connection.

Looking on the greater image might help us perceive the place modifications might have the best impression for a person affected person. These areas can play an essential function in each stopping and managing power illness. For sufferers managing power circumstances, it permits us to look past the prognosis itself and determine real looking modifications that may help their general remedy plan and long-term well being.

As a part of my Lifestyle Medicine research, I additionally accomplished a case research based mostly on one in every of my very own sufferers. We checked out how incorporating life-style modifications into his care helped enhance his levels of cholesterol. It was an awesome real-world instance of how significant, sustainable modifications could make a measurable distinction in a affected person’s well being.

Q: How may sufferers see this extra coaching present up throughout their appointments with you?

Dr. Sarkar: I believe sufferers might discover much more intentional conversations about their day by day habits and the way these habits relate to their well being.

Instead of merely saying, “eat healthier” or “exercise more,” I need to assist sufferers perceive what that may really appear to be of their on a regular basis lives—and why I’m recommending sure modifications.

Sometimes it may be one thing surprisingly easy. For instance, even the way in which we put together sure meals could make a distinction. A cooled potato, such as you may need in potato salad, can present extra resistant starch, which acts equally to fiber within the physique. It’s a superb instance of how small, sensible modifications can help our well being.

That’s what I discover priceless about Lifestyle Medicine. It offers me extra proof and instruments to clarify the “why” behind my suggestions slightly than merely telling somebody to eat higher or train extra. We can determine particular, achievable modifications, set objectives collectively, comply with up on them, and modify as wanted.

For some sufferers, which will imply focusing extra on diet or motion. For others, sleep or stress will be the place to begin. It actually relies on the particular person.

Q: What excites you most about bringing extra Lifestyle Medicine into your affected person care?

Dr. Sarkar: I really like giving sufferers instruments they will really use of their on a regular basis lives. I consider that drugs isn’t one-size-fits-all. Every affected person is totally different, and it’s a must to have a look at the entire particular person.

That’s what I actually like about Lifestyle Medicine. It offers me one other approach to have a look at the entire affected person and create a plan that’s personalised to them and their well being.

Continuing to Learn for Our Patients

Dr. Sarkar’s pursuit of Lifestyle Medicine certification is one other approach our medical staff continues to broaden its data and convey evidence-based approaches again to our sufferers.

The certification course of is rigorous. As a part of her coaching, Dr. Sarkar is finishing 60 hours of medical schooling centered on Lifestyle Medicine, together with a case research based mostly on her expertise incorporating Lifestyle Medicine into the care of a affected person. She will even sit for a certification examination on the completion of her coaching.

For Dr. Sarkar, this extra schooling reinforces one thing that has at all times been central to her method to drugs: taking the time to grasp the entire affected person, figuring out alternatives to be proactive, and recognizing that drugs isn’t one-size-fits-all.

We sit up for sharing extra as Dr. Sarkar continues her coaching and works towards certification in Lifestyle Medicine.