GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – When it comes to ECU Health’s new lifestyle medicine clinic opening up, there’s likely no bigger cheerleader than Vicky Dougherty, who says she might not be here without the services the clinic provides.
“Well, they actually saved my life, honestly. I was doing the exercise in the medicine program, and my exercise leader Miss Aurdy Joiner, would not see me anymore because I was getting shorter breath rather than getting stronger and she was the one that actually made me go to the doctor and help identify that I have a heart problem,” said Vicky Dougherty, Lifestyle clinic patient.
The new clinic focuses on different aspects of your life, and according to ECU Healths Lifestyle Medicine Director, the main 6 are healthy eating, exercise, stress management, sleep, avoiding risky substances, and then making healthy connections.
“We have a team of dieticians, we have three providers on staff, and then we have exercise physiologists that do a program called exercise is medicine, and we also have our culinary medicine team,” ECU Health Lifestyle Medicine Director, Brenda Leigh.
She also says their clinic looks at the science behind a healthy lifestyle in order to help make positive changes.
“We know that about 80% of our disease states are caused by lifestyle, and a lot of people think it’s hereditary, but in fact, it’s really the foods that we eat and lack of exercise,” said Leigh.
There are many examples; another is the work being done to combat diabetes before it happens.
“Patients who have prediabetes or have a significant risk of developing diabetes over the coming years and focusing on those lifestyle changes have been shown to significantly reduce the development of that diabetes,” David Michael, The Lifestyle clinic, Medical Director.
If you can’t make it to the clinic in Greenville, we’re told that there are select lifestyle medicine services at 11 other ECU Health locations.
While some aspects of the clinic can be covered by insurance, other programs will require payment. The director also said some day classes may be free to the public, such as Tuesday’s lunch with the doc, focusing on healthy cooking.
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