3\/17\/2014 @ 11:09AM\u00a0|1,095 views<\/span><\/a><\/h5>\nThe STAT Ten: Dean Ornish On Digital Health, Wisdom And The Value Of Meaningful Connections<\/h1>\n<\/hgroup>\n\n\nSTAT Ten is intended to give a voice to those in digital health. From those resonant voices in the headlines to quiet innovators and thinkers behind the scenes, it\u2019s my intent to feature those individuals who are driving innovation\u2013in both thought and deed.\u00a0And while it\u2019s not an exhaustive interview, STAT Ten asks 10 quick questions to give this individual a chance to be heard. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nDean Ornish, MD is a fascinating and important leader in healthcare. \u00a0His vision has dared to question convention and look at health and wellness from a comprehensive and unique\u00a0perspective. \u00a0He is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF Founder & President, nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute.<\/em><\/p>\nDr. Ornish\u2019s pioneering research was the first to prove that lifestyle changes may stop or even reverse the progression of heart disease and early-stage prostate cancer and even change gene expression, \u201cturning on\u201d disease-preventing genes and \u201cturning off\u201d genes that promote cancer, heart disease and premature aging. Recently, Medicare agreed to provide coverage for his program, the first time that Medicare has covered an integrative medicine program. He is the author of six bestselling books and was recently appointed by President Obama to the White House Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. He is a member of the boards of directors of the San Francisco Food Bank and the J. Craig Venter Institute. The Ornish diet was rated #1 for heart health by U.S. News & World Report in 2011 and 2012. He was selected as one of the \u201cTIME 100\u201d in integrative medicine, honored as \u201cone of the 125 most extraordinary University of Texas alumni in the past 125 years,\u201d recognized by LIFE magazine as \u201cone of the 50 most influential members of his generation\u201d and by Forbes magazine as \u201cone of the 7 most powerful teachers in the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nThe lexicon of his career is filled with words that include innovator, teacher and game-changer. \u00a0And with this impressive career and his well-established ability to look at health and medicine in a new light, I thought i would be fun\u2013and informative\u2013to ask Dr. Ornish some questions about digital health.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Dean](\"http:\/\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/johnnosta\/files\/2014\/03\/DO-2013-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Dean Ornish, MD<\/p>\n
\u00a01.\u00a0Digital health\u2014many definitions and misconceptions.\u00a0 How would describe this health movement in a sentence or two?<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cDigital health\u201d usually refers to the idea that having more quantitative information about your health from various devices will improve your health by changing your behaviors.\u00a0 Information is important but it\u2019s not usually sufficient to motivate most people to make meaningful and lasting changes in healthful behaviors.\u00a0 If it were, no one would smoke cigarettes.<\/p>\n
2. You\u2019ve spoken of building deep and authentic connection among\u00a0 patients as key element of your wellness programs. \u00a0Can digital health foster that connection or drive more \u201ctechno-disconnection\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\nBoth.\u00a0 What matters most is the\u00a0quality<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0meaning\u00a0<\/i>of the interaction, not whether it\u2019s digital or analog (in person).\u00a0 Study after study have shown that people who are lonely, depressed, and isolated are three to ten times more likely to get sick and die prematurely compared to those who have a strong sense of love and community.\u00a0 Intimacy is healing.\u00a0 In our support groups, we create a safe environment in which people can let down their emotional defenses and communicate openly and authentically about what\u2019s really going on in their lives without fear they\u2019ll be rejected, abandoned, or betrayed.\u00a0 The quality and meaning of this sense of community is often life-transforming.\u00a0 It can be done digitally, but it\u2019s more effective in person.\u00a0 A digital hug is not quite as fulfilling, but it\u2019s much better than being alone and feeling lonely.<\/p>\n
3. How can we connect clinical validation to the current pop culture trends of \u201cfitness gadgets\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\nAwareness is the first step in healing.\u00a0 In that context, information can raise awareness, but it\u2019s only the first step.<\/p>\n
\u00a04.\u00a0Can digital health help link mind\u00a0and<\/i>\u00a0body wellness?<\/strong><\/p>\nYes.\u00a0\u00a0Nicholas Christakis\u2019<\/a>\u00a0research found that if your friends are obese, your risk of obesity if 45% higher.\u00a0 If your friends\u2019 friends are obese, your risk of obesity if 25% higher.\u00a0 If your friends\u2019 friends\u2019 friends are obese, your risk is 10% higher\u2014even if you\u2019ve never met them.\u00a0 That\u2019s how interconnected we are.\u00a0 Their study also showed that social distance is more important than geographic distance.\u00a0 Long distance is the next best thing to being there (and in some families, even better\u2026).<\/p>\n5. Are there any particular area of medicine and wellness that might best fit in the context of digital health (diet, exercise, compliance, etc.)?<\/strong><\/p>\nThey all do.<\/p>\n
6. There is much talk on the empowerment of the individual and the \u201cdemocratization of data\u201d.\u00a0 From your perspective are patients becoming more engaged and involved in their care?<\/strong><\/p>\nPatients are becoming more empowered in all areas of life, not just with their health care.\u00a0 Having access to one\u2019s clinical data can be useful, but even more empowering is access to tools and programs that enable people to use the experience of suffering as a catalyst and doorway for transforming their lives for the better.\u00a0 That\u2019s what our lifestyle program provides.<\/p>\n
\u00a07.\u00a0Is digital health \u201csticking\u201d in the medical community?\u00a0 Or are advances being driven more by patients?<\/strong><\/p>\nElectronic medical records are finally being embraced, in part due to financial incentives.\u00a0 Also, telemedicine is about to take off, as it allows both health care professionals and patients to leverage their time and resources more efficiently and effectively.\u00a0 But most doctors are not prescribing digital health devices for their patients.\u00a0 Not yet.<\/p>\n
\u00a08.\u00a0Do you personally use any devices?\u00a0 Any success (or failure) stories?<\/strong><\/p>\nI weigh myself every day, and I work out regularly using weight machines and a treadmill desk.\u00a0 I feel overloaded by information much of the day, so I haven\u2019t found devices such as FitBit, Nike Plus, and others to be useful.\u00a0 These days, I find wisdom to be a more precious commodity than information.<\/p>\n
\u00a09.\u00a0What are some of the exciting areas of digital health that you see on the horizon?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe capacity for intimacy using digital platforms is virtually unlimited, but, so far, we\u2019ve only scratched the surface of what\u2019s possible.\u00a0 It\u2019s a testimony to how primal our need is for love and intimacy that even the rather superficial intimacy of Facebook (or, before that, the chat rooms in AOL, or the lounges in Starbucks) created multi-billion-dollar businesses.<\/p>\n
My wife, Anne, is a multidimensional genius who is developing ways of creating intimate and meaningful relationships using the interface of digital technologies and real-world healing environments.\u00a0 She also designed our web site (www.ornish.com<\/a>) and created and appears in the guided meditations there; Anne has a unique gift of making everyone and everything around her beautiful.<\/p>\n\u00a010.\u00a0Medicare is now covering\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Dean Ornish\u2019s Program for Reversing Heart Disease<\/i>\u00a0as a branded program\u2013a landmark event\u2013and you recently formed a partnership with Healthways to train health care professionals, hospitals, and clinics nationwide.\u00a0 Why now?<\/strong><\/p>\nWe\u2019re creating a new paradigm of health care\u2014Lifestyle Medicine\u2014instead of sick care, based on lifestyle changes astreatment<\/i>, not just as prevention.\u00a0 Lifestyle changes often work better than drugs and surgery at a fraction of the cost\u2014and the only side-effects are good ones.\u00a0 Like an electric car or an iPhone, this is a disruptive innovation.\u00a0 After 37 years of doing work in this area, this is the right idea at the right time.<\/p>\n
The limitations of high-tech medicine are becoming clearer\u2014e.g., angioplasty, stents, and bypass surgery don\u2019t prolong life or prevent heart attacks in stable patient; only one out of 49 men treated for prostate cancer benefit from the treatment, and the other 48 often become impotent, incontinent or both; and drug treatments of type 2 diabetes don\u2019t work nearly as well as lifestyle changes in preventing the horrible complications.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the power of comprehensive lifestyle changes is becoming more well-documented.\u00a0 In our studies, we proved, for the first time, that intensive lifestyle changes can reverse the progression of coronary heart disease and slow, stop, or reverse the progression of early-stage\u00a0prostate cancer.\u00a0 Also, we found that changing your lifestyle changes your genes\u2014turning on hundreds of good genes that protect you while downregulating hundreds of genes that promote heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases.\u00a0 Our most recent research found that these lifestyle changes may begin to reverse aging at a cellular level by lengthening our telomeres, the ends of our chromosomes that control how long we live.<\/p>\n
Finally, Obamacare turns economic incentives on their ear, so it becomes economically sustainable for physicians to offer training in comprehensive lifestyle changes to their patients, especially now that CMS is providing Medicare reimbursement and insurance companies such as WellPoint are also doing so.\u00a0\u00a0Ben Leedle,<\/a>\u00a0CEO of Healthways, is a visionary leader who has the experience, resources, and infrastructure for us to quickly scale our program to those who most need it.\u00a0 Recently, we trained UCLA, The Cleveland Clinic, and the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York in our program, and many more are on the way.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The limitations of high-tech medicine are becoming clearer\u2014e.g., angioplasty, stents, and bypass surgery don\u2019t prolong life or prevent heart attacks in stable patient; only one out of 49 men treated for prostate cancer benefit from the treatment, and the other 48 often become impotent, incontinent or both; and drug treatments of type 2 diabetes don\u2019t … Continue reading Ornish on Digital Health<\/span>
STAT Ten is intended to give a voice to those in digital health. From those resonant voices in the headlines to quiet innovators and thinkers behind the scenes, it\u2019s my intent to feature those individuals who are driving innovation\u2013in both thought and deed.\u00a0And while it\u2019s not an exhaustive interview, STAT Ten asks 10 quick questions to give this individual a chance to be heard. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Dean Ornish, MD is a fascinating and important leader in healthcare. \u00a0His vision has dared to question convention and look at health and wellness from a comprehensive and unique\u00a0perspective. \u00a0He is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF Founder & President, nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute.<\/em><\/p>\n Dr. Ornish\u2019s pioneering research was the first to prove that lifestyle changes may stop or even reverse the progression of heart disease and early-stage prostate cancer and even change gene expression, \u201cturning on\u201d disease-preventing genes and \u201cturning off\u201d genes that promote cancer, heart disease and premature aging. Recently, Medicare agreed to provide coverage for his program, the first time that Medicare has covered an integrative medicine program. He is the author of six bestselling books and was recently appointed by President Obama to the White House Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. He is a member of the boards of directors of the San Francisco Food Bank and the J. Craig Venter Institute. The Ornish diet was rated #1 for heart health by U.S. News & World Report in 2011 and 2012. He was selected as one of the \u201cTIME 100\u201d in integrative medicine, honored as \u201cone of the 125 most extraordinary University of Texas alumni in the past 125 years,\u201d recognized by LIFE magazine as \u201cone of the 50 most influential members of his generation\u201d and by Forbes magazine as \u201cone of the 7 most powerful teachers in the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The lexicon of his career is filled with words that include innovator, teacher and game-changer. \u00a0And with this impressive career and his well-established ability to look at health and medicine in a new light, I thought i would be fun\u2013and informative\u2013to ask Dr. Ornish some questions about digital health.<\/em><\/p>\n Dean Ornish, MD<\/p>\n \u00a01.\u00a0Digital health\u2014many definitions and misconceptions.\u00a0 How would describe this health movement in a sentence or two?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cDigital health\u201d usually refers to the idea that having more quantitative information about your health from various devices will improve your health by changing your behaviors.\u00a0 Information is important but it\u2019s not usually sufficient to motivate most people to make meaningful and lasting changes in healthful behaviors.\u00a0 If it were, no one would smoke cigarettes.<\/p>\n 2. You\u2019ve spoken of building deep and authentic connection among\u00a0 patients as key element of your wellness programs. \u00a0Can digital health foster that connection or drive more \u201ctechno-disconnection\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n Both.\u00a0 What matters most is the\u00a0quality<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0meaning\u00a0<\/i>of the interaction, not whether it\u2019s digital or analog (in person).\u00a0 Study after study have shown that people who are lonely, depressed, and isolated are three to ten times more likely to get sick and die prematurely compared to those who have a strong sense of love and community.\u00a0 Intimacy is healing.\u00a0 In our support groups, we create a safe environment in which people can let down their emotional defenses and communicate openly and authentically about what\u2019s really going on in their lives without fear they\u2019ll be rejected, abandoned, or betrayed.\u00a0 The quality and meaning of this sense of community is often life-transforming.\u00a0 It can be done digitally, but it\u2019s more effective in person.\u00a0 A digital hug is not quite as fulfilling, but it\u2019s much better than being alone and feeling lonely.<\/p>\n 3. How can we connect clinical validation to the current pop culture trends of \u201cfitness gadgets\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n Awareness is the first step in healing.\u00a0 In that context, information can raise awareness, but it\u2019s only the first step.<\/p>\n \u00a04.\u00a0Can digital health help link mind\u00a0and<\/i>\u00a0body wellness?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes.\u00a0\u00a0Nicholas Christakis\u2019<\/a>\u00a0research found that if your friends are obese, your risk of obesity if 45% higher.\u00a0 If your friends\u2019 friends are obese, your risk of obesity if 25% higher.\u00a0 If your friends\u2019 friends\u2019 friends are obese, your risk is 10% higher\u2014even if you\u2019ve never met them.\u00a0 That\u2019s how interconnected we are.\u00a0 Their study also showed that social distance is more important than geographic distance.\u00a0 Long distance is the next best thing to being there (and in some families, even better\u2026).<\/p>\n 5. Are there any particular area of medicine and wellness that might best fit in the context of digital health (diet, exercise, compliance, etc.)?<\/strong><\/p>\n They all do.<\/p>\n 6. There is much talk on the empowerment of the individual and the \u201cdemocratization of data\u201d.\u00a0 From your perspective are patients becoming more engaged and involved in their care?<\/strong><\/p>\n Patients are becoming more empowered in all areas of life, not just with their health care.\u00a0 Having access to one\u2019s clinical data can be useful, but even more empowering is access to tools and programs that enable people to use the experience of suffering as a catalyst and doorway for transforming their lives for the better.\u00a0 That\u2019s what our lifestyle program provides.<\/p>\n \u00a07.\u00a0Is digital health \u201csticking\u201d in the medical community?\u00a0 Or are advances being driven more by patients?<\/strong><\/p>\n Electronic medical records are finally being embraced, in part due to financial incentives.\u00a0 Also, telemedicine is about to take off, as it allows both health care professionals and patients to leverage their time and resources more efficiently and effectively.\u00a0 But most doctors are not prescribing digital health devices for their patients.\u00a0 Not yet.<\/p>\n \u00a08.\u00a0Do you personally use any devices?\u00a0 Any success (or failure) stories?<\/strong><\/p>\n I weigh myself every day, and I work out regularly using weight machines and a treadmill desk.\u00a0 I feel overloaded by information much of the day, so I haven\u2019t found devices such as FitBit, Nike Plus, and others to be useful.\u00a0 These days, I find wisdom to be a more precious commodity than information.<\/p>\n \u00a09.\u00a0What are some of the exciting areas of digital health that you see on the horizon?<\/strong><\/p>\n The capacity for intimacy using digital platforms is virtually unlimited, but, so far, we\u2019ve only scratched the surface of what\u2019s possible.\u00a0 It\u2019s a testimony to how primal our need is for love and intimacy that even the rather superficial intimacy of Facebook (or, before that, the chat rooms in AOL, or the lounges in Starbucks) created multi-billion-dollar businesses.<\/p>\n My wife, Anne, is a multidimensional genius who is developing ways of creating intimate and meaningful relationships using the interface of digital technologies and real-world healing environments.\u00a0 She also designed our web site (www.ornish.com<\/a>) and created and appears in the guided meditations there; Anne has a unique gift of making everyone and everything around her beautiful.<\/p>\n \u00a010.\u00a0Medicare is now covering\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Dean Ornish\u2019s Program for Reversing Heart Disease<\/i>\u00a0as a branded program\u2013a landmark event\u2013and you recently formed a partnership with Healthways to train health care professionals, hospitals, and clinics nationwide.\u00a0 Why now?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re creating a new paradigm of health care\u2014Lifestyle Medicine\u2014instead of sick care, based on lifestyle changes astreatment<\/i>, not just as prevention.\u00a0 Lifestyle changes often work better than drugs and surgery at a fraction of the cost\u2014and the only side-effects are good ones.\u00a0 Like an electric car or an iPhone, this is a disruptive innovation.\u00a0 After 37 years of doing work in this area, this is the right idea at the right time.<\/p>\n The limitations of high-tech medicine are becoming clearer\u2014e.g., angioplasty, stents, and bypass surgery don\u2019t prolong life or prevent heart attacks in stable patient; only one out of 49 men treated for prostate cancer benefit from the treatment, and the other 48 often become impotent, incontinent or both; and drug treatments of type 2 diabetes don\u2019t work nearly as well as lifestyle changes in preventing the horrible complications.<\/p>\n At the same time, the power of comprehensive lifestyle changes is becoming more well-documented.\u00a0 In our studies, we proved, for the first time, that intensive lifestyle changes can reverse the progression of coronary heart disease and slow, stop, or reverse the progression of early-stage\u00a0prostate cancer.\u00a0 Also, we found that changing your lifestyle changes your genes\u2014turning on hundreds of good genes that protect you while downregulating hundreds of genes that promote heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases.\u00a0 Our most recent research found that these lifestyle changes may begin to reverse aging at a cellular level by lengthening our telomeres, the ends of our chromosomes that control how long we live.<\/p>\n Finally, Obamacare turns economic incentives on their ear, so it becomes economically sustainable for physicians to offer training in comprehensive lifestyle changes to their patients, especially now that CMS is providing Medicare reimbursement and insurance companies such as WellPoint are also doing so.\u00a0\u00a0Ben Leedle,<\/a>\u00a0CEO of Healthways, is a visionary leader who has the experience, resources, and infrastructure for us to quickly scale our program to those who most need it.\u00a0 Recently, we trained UCLA, The Cleveland Clinic, and the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York in our program, and many more are on the way.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The limitations of high-tech medicine are becoming clearer\u2014e.g., angioplasty, stents, and bypass surgery don\u2019t prolong life or prevent heart attacks in stable patient; only one out of 49 men treated for prostate cancer benefit from the treatment, and the other 48 often become impotent, incontinent or both; and drug treatments of type 2 diabetes don\u2019t … Continue reading Ornish on Digital Health<\/span> <\/p>\n