Health is a Verb Not a Noun

[Music]

my dad died

and i think i have something to do with

because it was during those first few

intense days of

intense grief that my grandfather said

to me

you’re a doctor you saved so many

and yet you didn’t save your dad

and he was right because what i did

the moment i knew my father was unwell

is that i

took his health from him and i handed it

straight over

to another doctor because that’s what we

do with health

we look for a fix and we look for

someone to give us

that fix and we hand over

our health and the reason we do that is

because the world health organization

tells us that health is unattainable on

our own

in its definition of health as a state

of complete physical mental and social

well-being

and not merely the absence of disease or

infirmity

health is not within our grasp

a state of complete physical mental and

social well-being

that’s not sustainable because life

has evolved to be in a state of flux

and so the instant we lose its

sustainability we hand over our health

in the hope that someone else will just

give us back

our state of health

but health is not a state it’s a skill

it’s not something you are given it’s

something

you create it’s not something you

have it’s something you do

health is not a noun

it is a verb how many of you

can ride a bike or have taught your

children

to ride a bike just bring to your mind

your bike climb on

and hold those handlebars that is you

holding your health now

engage your feet onto those pedals

that is you engaging your health

and start to pedal that is you

taking action for your health

and as you start moving holding those

handlebars engaging the pedals traveling

in all directions

the inevitable happens you hit a rock

in the road and you fall off

but you learn from that fall and you get

up and you climb back on your bike and

you pedal

forward again that is you learning

health now this time as you pedal

you know exactly where you’re going

you’re aiming for that beautiful

majestic

oak tree ahead and you know exactly

how to get there that is you targeting

your health and on that journey as you

pedal towards that majestic oak tree you

are feeling the wind in your hair

the sun on your back the energy of the

journey

that is you harnessing the energy

of health hold engage

action learn target harness

health is a doing word

good health is nothing to do with good

luck

good health is nothing to do with good

genes

great health is everything to do

with great skill

it takes skill to ride a bike doesn’t it

what seemed

impossible becomes possible falling

multiple times until that moment of

intense joy when you knew

you could ride a bike and would never

forget this

skill but how many of you then

learned to pedal faster tried pedaling

up a hill without stopping

figured out how to ride with one hand

with no hands

could ride on one wheel jump over

obstacles do

360 degree spins we could

all do this you know if we have the

basic foundation of knowing how to ride

a bike the possibilities

of how we skill up are limitless

limited only by our beliefs and by our

actions

and it is the same with health we all

have the capacity

for health we have this core skills for

a strong foundation

in health and we can all become skilled

in health and how do you do that

how do you skill up on your health

well you do it through your lifestyle

the way you style your life because

health is

intimately connected to your

lifestyle what over

20 years of general practice has shown

me so vividly

is what i call the revolving door

of health sadly the current healthcare

system is designed to create

dependency dependency on the medication

as the solution

dependency on the surgeon as the

repairer dependency on the doctor

as the fixer except it’s no fix at all

patients coming back again and again

through that revolving door without

health gains

and when i pushed open those doors into

medical school at the tender age of 18

the only thought i had was i’m now going

to help people

and that’s no cliche when it comes from

the heart but as my career progressed i

started feeling

uneasy because i was practicing

mcdonald’s style medicine

drive-through style drive in grab your

pills drive out come back again grab

more pills drive out

keep coming back

now i have huge respect for my doctor

colleagues

but we need to put our hands up and say

no matter how compassionately we try

we are not helping people what we are

trying to do

is fix people and as a result we’re

creating dependency on the doctor

the fixer which is precisely the sort of

help

no one needs we don’t need

drive-through style medicine we need

lifestyle medicine that is what

228 000 patients spanning my career have

taught me

the patient narrative the stories of

life unfolding in my consulting room

that i listened to with attentive

curiosity

stories that have led me to the number

nine just nine lifestyle skills

to turn health into a verb

and here are nine actions for you to

take tomorrow

to take you from morning to night to

take you from the complexity of

life to the simplicity of living to take

you

from health as a noun to health as

a verb

life’s purpose tomorrow morning

instead of pressing that snooze button

when you wake up yes i know you do it we

all do it

instead just take those nine minutes to

reflect on your purpose for the day

ahead

research tells us that you live longer

if you have

purpose it’s seize the day not snooze

the day

identity know who you

are your inner essence not your job

title or your role

but the qualities that you want to show

up tomorrow

make your i am statement for the day out

loud in the morning

i am energetic i am attentive i am

kind your brain lights up in the areas

of motivation your ventromedial

prefrontal cortex

when you make affirmations that tell you

who

you are

food food for fuel

function and fun fuel up

on breakfast tomorrow morning with whole

grain oats which

function to keep your sugar load down

and have

fun swapping in different fruits as

toppings

exercise stay

standing tomorrow morning make standing

your new

sitting anything you do just ask

yourself

could i do this standing instead

data is telling us that if you sit for

more than six hours a day

you’re more likely to get diabetes or

heart disease

or both

sleep preparation for sleep

doesn’t start when you go to bed it

starts when you wake

up light is the most important barometer

for sleep

so step out into the morning sunlight

even if it’s cloudy

time out now as you settle into

your work through the day the day

stresses invariably build up don’t they

but don’t let your stress hormone

cortisol

stay elevated all day because it will

then

trigger chronic inflammation with a

cascade of effects

resulting in alzheimer’s and gut issues

and more instead switch on your

relaxation response in an

instance simply by slowing down

your breathing and breathing in

for four and out

for six your breath

is always with you

your connections ask one person tomorrow

how are you doing and listen for the

answer

stay connected with yourself too

learning habits are you in the habit of

answering

work emails late into the night are you

in the habit of eating

all the way up until you go to bed

what’s the one

nighttime habit you’re going to change

tomorrow night

emotions as your day draws to a close

get into bed take that beautiful journal

from your bedside

and write down just five things you’re

thankful for

that’s what participants in a gratitude

study did

and they reported fewer health concerns

and were happier

light up your lifestyle

not a drug in sight no dependency

on a doctor no surgical

wounds but do you know how many

disasters occur

because we don’t light up our lifestyle

enough

or because we don’t take action on the

signals that our mind

and body are sending us let’s just take

the signal of

tiredness tiredness is

so common that we normalize it

raise your hand if you felt tired at

some stage yes me too

all of us it’s a universal feeling

but it shouldn’t be how many disasters

could have been averted

if tiredness had been averted

chennabil russia 26th of april 1986

1 23 am the nuclear reactor explodes

with repercussions still being felt

today

the fatigue of a 13-hour shift

contributing to the human

error that led to the explosion

florida usa 28th of january 1986 11

39 a.m the space shuttle challenger

explodes just 73 seconds after launch

operators who sacrificed rest due to

long hours of preparation leading up to

the mission

created a catalyst for human error that

caused the accident

alaska usa 24th of march 1989 1004 am

the oil tanker exxon valdez strikes fly

reef spilling over 35

000 tons of crude oil destroying the

abundant wildlife in the area and

damaging the ecosystem

the crew members agreed they were tired

london united kingdom 23rd of july 2003

6 pm a slip of a knife

in the hands of a tired surgeon and my

father dies

on an operating table i hold the hands

of the surgeon

and i say thank you you tried so hard

you must be tired

not realizing at the time that tiredness

was the cause

not the effect the post-mortem reveals

that surgery was not even needed

in the first place

human error is part of being human

human error creates suffering and we all

feel compassion in the face of human

suffering

but human error also instills in us a

need to look at what is preventable

fatigue leading to human error is

preventable heart disease cancer

diabetes dementia

is preventable simply by shining a light

on your lifestyle and your health

your lifestyle how you sleep rest

move eat feel connect

it doesn’t just affect you

your health affects those around you

who do you affect and who affects

you mr tired surgeon

i forgive you for trying to care for

others

without taking care of your own health

first

dr alka patel i forgive me

for handing over my dad’s health

and dad i know you forgive me too

for not listening when you said to me on

the morning of your surgery

i don’t have a good feeling about today

can we

reschedule

it is time

time to listen and change the definition

of health no waiting for the next

disaster

the next global pandemic or epidemic

we are already in the midst of so many

epidemics the epidemic of sleep

deprivation

the epidemic of obesity the epidemic of

loneliness of being sedentary

of digital destruction of emotional

distress

it is time time to sow the seeds of

lifestyle medicine into everyday

conversations

to embed the roots of health into

everyday living

to create a canopy of self-care across

the globe and to share the fruits of

connection it is time

time we all valued health as our most

valuable asset

so that we hold engage action learn

target and harness health

health is a verb not

a noun we all

have a contribution to make your health

creates global health

how’s your health doing today