Dr David Glass - MBChB, FCOG (SA)
Many people feel mental ill-health is a sign of weakness, but the brain is as much a part of the body as the heart, or the kidneys or the hip joint. Just as these other organs can be diseased with conditions like atherosclerosis, or renal failure or arthritis, so too the brain can be affected by our lifestyles and general health. When one considers that 25% of the energy used in the body is consumed by the brain, and the brain is the most vascular organ in the body, it is not surprising that health conditions affecting the body also affect brain function. People who adopt a healthier lifestyle often comment upon how much more alert and better they feel about life. And isnt that important, if you are going to live longer from a healthier body, to also feel more positive about life and have greater zest for living, a clearer mind and better memory?
ALSO READ : Turning the Tide The Role of Exercise in Restoring Vitality (Part 6)
On the 21st of August this year, the South African College of Applied Psychology published a blog on their webpage entitled The shocking state of mental health in South Africa in 2019. You can read the full article here
To summaries the conclusions:
In the South African Stress and Health (SASH) study done back in 2003-2004, it was estimated that up to 30% of South Africans will develop some sort of mental health dysfunction in their lifetime this can range from mood disorders or mild anxiety states through to severe illnesses requiring admission to hospital and specialist care.
Up to 70% of primary care visits (consultations to a doctor or clinic) are related to stress and lifestyle in the USA, and it is likely that this figure is similar in South Africa.
Chronic stress is the response to prolonged emotional pressure in which an individual feels they have little or no control. It results in the release of adrenalin and cortisol by the endocrine system. This can lead to high blood pressure, inhibition of growth in children, suppression of the immune system and damage to mental health, amongst other consequences. That can result in all sorts of reasons for doctor visits, including chronic diseases, acute infections, non-specific pain and general ill-health.
The cause of mental illness is complex and involves both non-modifiable (e.g. genetic) factors, as well as modifiable (e.g. social and lifestyle) factors. Lifestyle medicine aims to address the modifiable factors. We know that depression is often an accompaniment to chronic diseases like diabetes, coronary heart disease, arthritis and cancer. It can also affect long term risks of these conditions. For instance people with coronary heart disease and depression have a poorer prognosis up to 30% greater risk for subsequent future coronary events. Some of this comes directly from the effects of stress and depression on the hormonal function of the body with the release of cortisol; but if a person is depressed they are also less likely to change their lifestyle that contributed to the heart disease in the first place things like smoking, eating junk food, inactivity and lack of purpose in life.
The two most common emotional health conditions are anxiety and depression. A valuable screening tool in the hands of a busy doctor to assess for these two conditions is the following set of questions. This is called the Patient Health Questionnaire for Depression and Anxiety (PHQ-4), and you can do the quiz yourself:
Add the total score for the four items.
If your score is more than 6 over a period of 2 weeks or more, you probably need to see a doctor for assessment and possible treatment.
Lifestyle Medicine works in partnership with pharmacology and psychotherapy in managing mental health issues. It is not antagonistic, and cannot replace the role of mental health practitioners. I do believe mental health practitioners are becoming more aware of the role of lifestyle interventions in the management of mental health issues. But as in all spheres of medicine, there is still more that can be done.
Next week we will present some of the lifestyle interventions which can help to reverse many mild mood disorders, and go a long way to improving the quality of our mental health in more severe conditions.
To a healthy mind and body and a positive outlook on life,
Dave Glass
Dr David Glass MBChB, FCOG (SA)
Dr David Glass graduated from UCT in 1975. He spent the next 12 years working at a mission hospital in Lesotho, where much of his work involved health education and interventions to improve health, aside from the normal busy clinical work of an under-resourced mission hospital.
He returned to UCT in 1990 to specialise in obstetrics/gynaecology and then moved to the South Coast where he had the privilege of, amongst other things, ushering 7000 babies into the world. He no longer delivers babies but is still very clinically active in gynaecology.
An old passion, preventive health care, has now replaced the obstetrics side of his work. He is eager to share insights he has gathered over the years on how to prevent and reverse so many of the modern scourges of lifestyle obesity, diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, common cancers, etc.
He is a family man, with a supportive wife, and two grown children, and four beautiful grandchildren. His hobbies include walking, cycling, vegetable gardening, bird-watching, travelling and writing. He is active in community health outreach and deeply involved in church activities. He enjoys teaching and sharing information.
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Continued here:
Turning the Tide Lifestyle Medicine and Emotional Health (part 1) - South Coast Herald
Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith
