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