Abstract
‘In the challenging times that we have faced in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic of physician burnout has become increasingly prominent and of critical importance.’
The year 2021 marks the 15th anniversary of the publication of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (AJLM). We started this journal with a hope and a vision that a forum for the exchange of evidence-based ideas and concepts in the area of lifestyle medicine was much needed. In the past 15 years we have continued to see that vision fulfilled!
The year 2020 marked great progress for AJLM, and we anticipate even greater progress in 2021.
In 2020, we inaugurated a number of new columns, including “Lifestyle Medicine around the World” and “Culinary Medicine.” We also added new Editorial Board members in the areas of positive psychology, pediatrics, and internal medicine.
In 2021, we will continue the expansion of our Editorial Board by welcoming a new Editorial Board member, Dr Gia Merlo, in the area of psychiatry and mental health. Dr Merlo is a board-certified psychiatrist and an expert in professional development and mental health, particularly, of physicians and other health care professionals. I am pleased to report that in addition to serving on our Editorial Board in this area, Dr Merlo has agreed to coauthor a state of the art review with me in the area of physician burnout. In the challenging times that we have faced in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic of physician burnout has become increasingly prominent and of critical importance.
A number of initiatives in 2020 were inaugurated that have great importance in the area of lifestyle medicine. First, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched its initiative to combat noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Included in the 6 areas of highest importance worldwide, the WHO identified lack of physical activity, proper nutrition, and high blood pressure. All of these are central to the mission of practitioners of lifestyle medicine. In fact, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has now joined the WHO as a contributing member to this worldwide campaign. It is clear that NCDs have become the dominant cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. Ameliorating this problem, of course, has been a central tenant of lifestyle medicine.
In addition, as a cardiologist, I was very proud to see that in the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Strategic Plan for 2020-2030, well-being and extending healthy life are the 2 key initiatives articulated by the AHA for the next 10 years. These are also central to the practice of lifestyle medicine. It is fitting that for 2021 the newly elected President of ACLM, Dr Cate Collings, is a cardiologist. Probably no subspecialty of medicine has embraced the concept of lifestyle medicine more directly than the AHA and the cardiology community.
On the publication front, AJLM published a number of exceptionally important papers in 2020. Chief among them is the article by past president of the ACLM Dr John Kelly along with Dr Micaela Karlsen (who also serves as the Director of Research for ACLM) and Dr Gregory Steinke with their article, “Type 2 Diabetes Remission and Lifestyle Medicine: A Position Statement From the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.” This represents the first position statement published by ACLM. I hope and believe there will be further position statements in diverse areas of lifestyle medicine. For example, an evidence-based article on physician activity and one on obesity would be appropriate position statements to follow. A position statement on the health benefits of plant-based eating would also be most welcome.
The year 2020 also witnessed the enormous heartache and challenge we confronted with the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. It is now predicted that over 400 000 American citizens will die from this highly infectious virus. The medical community has shown great discipline and courage in rising to meet the challenge of caring for individuals who have this virus.
While COVID-19 has appropriately occupied a central place in health care thinking in the United States, it is important to recognize that lifestyle-related issues such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity annually take the lives of more than 4 times as many lives as COVID-19. I view these as the silent epidemics that we in the lifestyle medicine community must continue to fight.
If there is any bright side to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has shown that people are willing to make enormous sacrifices to preserve their health. I hope and believe that we can capitalize on this new commitment to health to encourage people to take significant measures in their daily habits and actions to lower their risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
The theme of the current issue of AJLM is positive psychology. This is an important new area of research and inquiry into our daily approach to the world. I am particularly drawn to the concept of forgiveness and gratitude, which are central to positive psychology. We hope and anticipate that under the leadership of D. Liana Lianov who has joined the AJLM Editorial Board in the area of positive psychology that we will see more of these articles in this area in the future.
As always, we at AJLM are grateful for our partnership with ACLM. This was another exceptional year for ACLM with membership now approaching 5000 individuals. Lifestyle medicine continues to be the fastest growing discipline in medicine. This is a reflection of the extreme importance and the abundance of evidence of the health benefits of positive lifestyle habits and actions.
On the publishing front, I am pleased to announce that my organization, Rippe Lifestyle Institute, is coordinating a series of lifestyle medicine books on single topics within lifestyle medicine. These include Women’s Health, Behavior Change and Coaching, Diabetes, Physical Activity, Plant-based Eating, Obesity Management, and Narrative Medicine. We anticipate that these books will be published over the next 2 years and will provide an important point of entry for individuals who are thinking about lifestyle medicine or have a specific area of interest. Members of ACLM are playing crucial roles as editors of many of these volumes.
Finally, this has also been a banner year for the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. AJLM currently has over 13 000 subscribers and in 2020 experienced over 120 000 downloads of full-text articles. Both of these represent a 30% increase over the previous year. This is further evidence that the field of lifestyle medicine continues to grow and prosper!
What started out as a hope and a vision 15 years ago continues to grow and provide greater impact. While the progress is important, the challenges remain great. The commitment, passion, and skill of lifestyle medicine practitioners continue to inspire me and give me great hope that in the future we will continue to counteract the devastating consequences of noncommunicable diseases around the world!