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Lifestyle Intervention for Veterans With Chronic Diseases

Peter Kokkinos, PhD, discusses how the Washington, DC VAMC LIVe Program empowers veterans through active participation in exercise, nutrition, and stress management.

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0:34 What does it mean for a veteran to undergo a lifestyle intervention?
2:14 What impact does LIVe have on those with other diseases such as hypertension and obesity?
3:25 Can a change in diet and exercise alone eliminate the need for patients to take prescription medications?

In 2010, Peter Kokkinos, PhD, established the Lifestyle Intervention for Veterans (LIVe) Program for diabetic and prediabetic patients at the Washington, DC VAMC. Since then, research has indicated this "hollistic, patient-centered approach," as Dr. Kokkinos describes it, can be expanded to patients with chronic diseases other than diabetes, such as hypertension and obesity.

The LIVe Program aims to transform the individual from a helpless patient to an empowered participant. "We do not just tell the patients what to do," Dr. Kokkinos said. "We ask for their input as to how to make the program work best for them."

Although Dr. Kokkinos couldn't say diet and exercise alone would eliminate the need for patients to take prescription medications, he did discuss the substantial improvements in premature mortality in patients stratified across 4 exercise capacity categories.

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