Healthier doctors, healthier patients

Doctors are being encouraged to get active, and to prescribe exercise to their patients on a script.

Research conducted by Discovery Vitality shows that healthier doctors have patients with lower body mass indices [weight], prompting the launch yesterday of a new reward programme for doctors.

Doctors who exercise more and improve their health are being offered incentives including a 50% discount for a CardioChek analyser that helps them measure fitness in patients, free smoothies and discounts for fitness tracking.

South Africa is seeing a skyrocketing of lifestyle diseases. Discovery Health Medical Scheme found that from 2010 to 2015 there was a 43% increase in cancer and a 40% increase in diabetes among its medical aid members.

Statistics SA also reported that lifestyle diseases including diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, stroke and some cancers now kill more South Africans than TB and HIV combined.

David Jankelow, from the SA Heart Foundation, believes exercise may be more effective than medicine in preventing disease. "We as clinicians have to be much stronger from an advocacy point of view. Exercise may be more important than medicine when it comes to preventing illness and sustaining health."

Soweto GP Elijah Nkosi said: "I have seen such positive outcomes from prescribing exercise to my patients and tailoring it to their needs. They get very involved in walking and running events and some are even able to come off their medication.

"My message to patients is that getting your sleep, eating and exercising right is critical for health," Nkosi said. "If you don't use your muscles you lose them. So, do at least four days a week of regular exercise from walking for at least 30 minutes to more."

Jankelow recommended 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of high intensity exercise a week.

This week the British Heart Foundation said research showed lack of exercise kills as many people as smoking does.