Striving to Thrive

Hello, and welcome to my new site.  I'm Dr. Gary Pitts, a board certified family physician for over 25 years and, more recently, also certified in Lifestyle Medicine.  In this site I will bring content on decisions you can make that impact your longevity and, more importantly, your quality of life.  While we all know the end of our stories (no one gets out of this world alive), we still want to maximize the time we have as long as life is enjoyable and impactful.  Here are six areas we can choose to change that make a difference:

1. Substance abuse.  Statistically speaking, this is the most important.  Even after 54 years of putting labels on packets smoking is still the number one preventible cause of death in the USA.  And this is especially worrisome as the smoking rate in American has declined from 20.5% in 2005 to 11.5% in 2021.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that we have decreased that rate, but if it's still the number one preventible cause, then think how dangerous it is to be in that group of just over 1 in 10 that still smoke.  And alcohol is the number 3 preventible cause of death.  
2. Diet.  Comparing how we were designed to eat versus how we were taught to eat makes us realize the vast importance of change.  And diet + physical inactivity is the number TWO preventible cause of death in America.  We are the richest, most advanced, and with the most advanced medical system of any country in the world.  But, of 39 developed countries we are DEAD LAST when it comes to lifespan.  And we are  43rd overall, which means there are DEVELOPING  countries that live longer than we do!  
3. Physical activity.  It takes surprisingly little to get us to live longer:  1/2 hour 5 days a week makes a difference in our lifespan!  And this is 1/2 hour of being just a bit out of breath.  For instance, out of breath enough that you could carry on a conversation but couldn't sing a song.  A brisk walk with your dog can actually add to your longevity!  Many choose to do more than this and it's all positive - 1/2 hour 5 days a week is just a good minimum.
4. Sleep.  In America we tend to use sleep time as a piggy bank we can rob when we need to get more done.  But it's vitally important to maintain a good sleep schedule.  A good minimum for an adult is 6 1/2 hours.  If you are under six hours you mess with your ability to metabolize glucose and under 4 hours actually increases your risk for a stroke.  Go to bed for crying out loud!
5. Relationships.  You can easily see why a good support network of family and friends will increase your quality of life, but I find it just cool that it actually increases the length of our lives as well.
6. Stress Management.  The hingepin for all of the others.  How many of us smoke or drink, or eat, because of stress?  How many cannot sleep because of stress? How many of us have relationships that cause stress or exercise to try and mitigate it?  There are many proven ways to reduce the effect stress has on us and I'll discuss them in future posts.

Keep an eye here for more specific advice related to these topics as we re-invent ourselves in the best way possible.