Healing beyond pills: Doctors unite for lifestyle medicine

Sri Lankan Society of Lifestyle Medicine Conference LIMCON 2025 was held on September 20th to 21st at the UCFM Tower Colombo. With rising rates of chronic diseases worldwide, the event marked a turning point for Sri Lanka's medical community moving the focus from treatment to prevention sessions ranging from plant based nutrition and stress management to exercise prescriptions and digital health tools.

- Dr Aruni -a call to action

(Q) What inspired the theme of this year's conference, "Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine: Transforming Health Across the Lifespan"?

Our theme reflects a growing recognition that lifestyle is not just advice, but a prescription that addresses the root causes of chronic disease. Too often, people only hear broad messages like "eat healthy and move more." In reality, lifestyle interventions need to be specific, personalized, and sustained to bring about true change. This year's conference will explore how lifestyle medicine can be applied across every stage of life, from childhood to old age, to prevent, treat, and even reverse disease

(Q) Why is lifestyle medicine more relevant today than ever before, especially in Sri Lanka?

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney failure, respiratory diseases, and cancer are now the leading causes of death globally and here in Sri Lanka. Many of these are premature deaths, cutting lives short in their most productive years. Lifestyle medicine focuses on food, movement, sleep, stress, substance use, and social connections — the very behaviors that drive these conditions. By making changes in these areas, we can transform the trajectory of disease, not only preventing but also treating and even reversing it. Lifestyle Medicine addresses the art and science of achieving this.

(Q) Can lifestyle interventions really be as powerful as traditional medical treatment?