As part of my various outreach activities, I get to interact with and mentor many young students, and on one such recent online interaction with over 3 lakh students from the world over, conducted by CBSE and Lifology Foundation, I was glad to note that, students these days know what they want when it comes to higher education and careers. Things have definitely improved, compared with a decade earlier, when parents used to decide such things for their children.
It obviously didn’t work for many students, and that is why we used to see so many dissatisfied doctors and engineers in earlier years. It doesn’t work because we all have high mental aptitudes for only certain subjects. There was no point in pushing a student with not much aptitude for Maths and Physics, into studying engineering, and similarly it was pointless to push any student without a flair for memorizing huge volumes of data, into studying medicine or law.
What is at work here is basically the phenomenon of personalisation. We all have different mental makeup that makes some subjects easy for us and some subjects difficult, which calls for personalization of our higher studies and careers. This is true in all aspects of life too, that we should have things that are personalized or personally suited for us. But sadly, when it comes to my main domain of interest – healthcare and wellness – personalization has been woefully lacking. Or it was, until very recently.
The Limits of Generic Lifestyle Modifications
One of the greatest learnings in healthcare during the last few decades is that non communicable diseases (NCDs) are basically lifestyle related. That is why we call diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia and hundreds of such conditions as lifestyle diseases. In other words, bad lifestyles contribute to them, whereas good lifestyles help prevent or control them.
This led to a wave of recommendations for generic lifestyle modifications that have become so ubiquitous that practically anyone on the street today knows that it is better to eat less, move more and sleep more. Such generic modifications were projected to contain the accelerating prevalence of lifestyle diseases.Â
Unfortunately, nothing of that sort happened, due to poor adherence as well as poor effectiveness of such programs. For most people, it was not easy to limit food severely and find enough time in the morning to exercise for one hour. The end results too were ambiguous. We all are witness to those ironic situations, where we saw fitness fanatics succumb to heart attack or cancer, whereas some chain smokers escaping both conditions scot-free.Â
Obviously, there was more to this riddle than generic lifestyle modifications, and the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, gave it a major new twist, as it became clear that these bad lifestyles are only triggers, whereas the disease risks themselves are often hardcoded in the human genes or DNA. Eventually, it was also discovered that many of these diseases have metabolic roots too.
The Risks of Generic Lifestyle Modifications
Generic lifestyle modifications were not only ineffective, but often dangerous too. For example, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which is often considered as the gold standard in aerobic or cardio conditioning these days, is not suitable for those with a cardiac condition called Long Q-T Syndrome (LQTS). Though rare, there are still 4 million people worldwide living with LQTS, and for them doing exercise regimens like HIIT can invite a fatal heart attack!
This is all the riskier as LQTS is a silent condition that often goes undiagnosed. To a lesser degree, even lifestyle modifications like certain yoga postures can be risky for people with specific conditions. For instance, those with weak hearts should not do many repetitions or fast repetitions of surya namaskar or sun salutation. Another common example is yoga’s backbend postures like Ustrasana (camel pose), Matsyasana (fish pose) and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (upward facing dog), that should not be practised by those prone to constipation and piles, as these postures can exacerbate such conditions.
When it comes to diet too, there are several hidden dangers in generic lifestyle advice. For example, it is often said that it is better to limit fats and carbohydrates and to compensate by increasing the protein intake. But recent studies reveal that increased protein intake is a factor behind the emerging prevalence of organ failures and cancers.Â
The Safety and Effectiveness of Personalized Lifestyle Modifications
In sharp contrast, personalized lifestyle modifications are both safe and effective. While there are different levels of personalization available today, the gold standard is personalization based on both genetic and metabolic traits. For instance, a typical genetic test used in such assessments can find out whether a person has the gene for LQTS, the risky yet silent cardiac condition mentioned earlier.
In fact, a detailed geno-metabolic assessment can detect risks for developing any among 250 such diseases and health conditions including all common killer lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancers, dementia etc, years or decades before they actually strike. Armed with such information, healthcare experts can suggest truly personalized lifestyle modifications designed to keep those diseases at bay. Such highly effective preventive solutions have arrived in India too during the past two years.
Such personalized lifestyle modifications based on geno-metabolic assessment, can encompass personalized diets, personalized fitness, personalized yoga etc. Their effectiveness is truly remarkable, as they are based on the real underlying science, which makes them epigenetic or capable of overriding even genetic susceptibilities to diseases. For instance, personalized diets based on such a geno-metabolic assessment can deliver nutrigenomic benefits. Nutrigenomics is the study of how our genes affect our food, as well as how our food affects our genes, and provide for some of the best reversal diets against diabetes, obesity etc.
Taking Personalized Lifestyle Modifications to the Masses
While personalized lifestyle modification programs based on geno-metabolic assessment have already arrived, their rapid adoption by the masses will depend on how well it is deployed and made available. For example, very few doctors and hospitals are today in the knowhow of how to deliver these programs.
The mass adoption of these programs call for more widespread participation by wellness experts like physicians, specialists, dieticians, fitness experts, yoga gurus, alternative therapists etc. People should also be provided solid encouragement and incentives to adopt such personalized lifestyle modifications.
In this regard, a promising new direction is the new blockchain based health and wellness ecosystems and their move-to-earn projects. Such projects reward users for walking, jogging or running, and for undertaking target-based lifestyle modifications. Wellness seekers in such projects also get expert advice and directions from the enrolled wellness experts.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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