Malaysia To Host Inaugural Conference On Lifestyle Medicine In Dec

By V. Sankara KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Bernama) -- Replacing an unhealthy lifestyle with a healthy one can reverse or prevent NCDs by 80 per cent and optimise the immune system to keep away communicable diseases. Malaysian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (MSLM) founder and President Dr Sivaneswaran Poobalasingam says addressing lifestyle factors can help improve the quality of life and longevity of the people. “Lifestyle Medicine (LM) will play a significant role in preventing, reversing or managing NCDs and this modality addresses the root cause of lifestyle diseases and teaches people how to change the unhealthy lifestyle,” he said to Bernama in an exclusive interview recently. LM is an emerging discipline in healthcare that has the potential to address the malady plaguing mankind besides being an evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic intervention that aims to prevent, treat and reverse chronic diseases by addressing the underlying causes. Its six core pillars of LM are healthy diet, physical activity, avoidance of tobacco and excess alcohol, adequate sleep, stress management, and social connectivity. Dr Sivaneswaran says Malaysia will host the inaugural conference on LM end of this year which will focus, among others, on reducing mortality and morbidity associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and future global communicable disease pandemics. The conference in Kuala Lumpur from Dec 4-5 will deliberate on the evidence that show healthy lifestyle practices, as enshrined as core aspects of LM, can strengthen the immune response to viral infections like COVID-19. MSLM is affiliated to the Lifestyle Medicine Global Alliance. -- BERNAMA