We celebrate National Public Health Week (NPHW) in April as a time to come together and recognize the critical advancements made in public health, while shedding light on important current issues that we are still facing. One of those serious and imminent issues is chronic disease. This month, our Pivio experts are highlighting what is at the core of chronic disease – systemic chronic inflammation – and how the framework of Pivio is designed to combat this health crisis.
Systemic Chronic Inflammation
In order to understand how Pivio tackles inflammation, we first need to define the harmful chronic inflammation occurring in the body. According to an article from Harvard Medical School titled: Fighting Inflammation: How to stop the damage before it compromises your health:
“Inflammation comes in two forms – acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term). Acute inflammation is the body’s immediate response to an injury or infection. It comes on quickly – usually within minutes—and disappears within days. It is a vital function, triggered when your immune system detects tissue damage or an invading army of germs. In contrast with acute inflammation, chronic inflammation is not short-lived, and it is rarely helpful. Chronic inflammation is a slower but more insidious process than acute inflammation, and it has been linked to a number of serious diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s and arthritis.”
The article goes on to further explain:
“Unhealthful lifestyle choices can cause ongoing inflammation. Poor habits like smoking, failing to exercise regularly, or eating a diet high in refined carbohydrates can contribute to chronic inflammation overtime.”
The long-term effects of chronic inflammation can be detrimental and life-threatening, which is why proper intervention to prevent and ultimately reverse the inflammation and chronic disease in the body is critical and necessary.
Pivio Framework
Understanding what chronic inflammation is, and how chronic disease negatively impacts the body, we can now highlight the hopeful news that Pivio offers. Pivio is built on the framework of the six pillars of lifestyle medicine which are proven to reduce chronic inflammation:
- Plant-rich eating pattern
- Sleep and rest
- Physical activity
- Meaningful social connections
- Avoidance of risky substances
- Stress management
Research continues to prove that adoption of these principles can prevent and reverse chronic disease. An article from Frontiers in Medicine titled: Prioritized Research for the Prevention, Treatment, and Reversal of Chronic Disease: Recommendations From the Lifestyle Medicine Research Summit dives into each of the pillars and identifies how they positively impact chronic disease. Below is a sample for the pillar of physical activity:
“Studies show that individuals with more occupational physical activity had lower risk of mortality and some morbidities than those individuals in more sedentary occupations. These observations provide a foundation of scientific study to support the importance of physical activity as a key lifestyle behavior to promote health and well-being.
Physical activity is recognized as a key behavior related to the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases and other health-related conditions. Exercise is associated with mitigation of stress and depression.”
Here is another example of how the pillar of meaningful social connections also positively impacts one’s health:
“Of the positive psychology pillars (positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment), social connectivity has the most powerful health benefits in long term cohort studies. Groups with close social ties tend to live longer than those with similar risk condition but lacking social ties. Conversely, social isolation is associated with greater all-cause mortality, lower immune system function (linked to chronic inflammation), depression and cognitive decline.”
The six pillars of lifestyle medicine all reduce chronic inflammation in the body, because triggers for the condition are essentially the “opposites” of the pillars – including physical inactivity, obesity, poor diet, social isolation, psychological stress, and disturbed sleep.
Pivio Lifestyle
Adopting the Pivio lifestyle is a proven way to prevent and reverse the negative effects of chronic disease.
Dr. Salvatore Lacagnina, Pivio Medical Director, and Dr. Michael Parkinson, Sr. Medical Director at UPMC, share their perspectives on the advantages of living the Pivio lifestyle:
Dr. Lacagnina:
“Chronic systemic inflammation is a significant part of the foundation for most of the chronic illnesses and many of the cancers we see people in the United States suffer from daily. Most of these illnesses are lifestyle related, being associated with the Standard American Diet (SAD) and the common American sedentary lifestyle.
Hundreds if not thousands of research articles though prove the value of a lifestyle medicine solution like Pivio to decrease systemic inflammation and lower the risk and incidence of chronic disease.”
Dr. Parkinson:
“Chronic inflammation isn’t ‘silent.’ It robs us of our energy, depresses our mood, reduces our protection against infection, and shortens our lives through common diseases like diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid conditions, many cancers, and other illnesses.
Pivio addresses all six pillars of lifestyle medicine to treat and reverse inflammation – and reduce our reliance on costly prescription medications. The evidence is here! Doctors and patients alike are discovering how to reduce inflammation through how we live to restore vitality and longevity.”
We also see the transformative benefits first-hand with Pivio participants. Craig, a recent Pivio participant, shares how the Pivio journey educated him on how to prevent and reduce inflammation:
“While I always considered myself to be a fairly healthy eater, I quickly realized that there were so many benefits to eating plant-based foods. Learning about how plant-based foods are so healthy for the heart and how it helps to fight inflammation was absolutely amazing…I am so happy that I participated in Pivio, and it has changed my life.”
If you or your organization are interested in learning more about how Pivio combats the negative effects of systemic chronic inflammation and chronic disease, contact us today. We would love to share more about the transformative benefits of Pivio, and get you set up on the path to healthy success!