The Power of Microsteps: How Behavioral Changes Can Transform Your Health
cardiometabolic syndrome doubles your risk of cardiovascular disease it triples your chance of having a heart attack or stroke along with a host of other chronic conditions including diabetes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease sleep apnea and cancer with its long-standing history of innovation and improving the quality of care for patients the Texas Heart Institute is launching a new effort to combat cardiometabolic syndrome thi leaders Dr Joseph Rogers and Dr Stephanie Coulter convened medical experts and brought in CEO and founder of Thrive Global Ariana Huffington to illuminate all of the key components of foundational behavioral change and how those components can actually help prevent and treat cardi metabolic disease Dr Rogers Ariana and the heartbeat team sat down to discuss the key linkage between well-being and behavioral change the focus of this conference really is on on on cardiometabolic disease which which is a key driver not only of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality but as we learn today is influencing endstage liver disease cancer mental health dementia and what is being predicted is that the incidence of cardiometab disease is going to worsen over the next several decades despite the fact that we have all of these wonderful drugs that treat high blood pressure and cholesterol and now drugs that treat diabetes and obesity and so there’s a disconnect and I think one of the interesting Parts about collaborating with Thrive is it brings this other piece into the story I think that we won’t be successful unless we begin to address some of the systemic issues that our patients face but part of that is addressing these key Health behaviors that thrive really focuses on trying to build a more complete portfolio of a holistic approach to patients yes and I think it is so important to have the validation of a major scientist and scientific institution because we need to Elevate behaviors beyond the kind of warm and fuzzy nice to have categories to making them Central to the health Journey it’s also about the democratization of of Health for everyone not just th those that are in the socioeconomic you know strata that are able to to do all of these things it’s it’s really for everybody on the planet to to become healthy that is such a key point because right now um Health inequities are growing and we see that in the numbers we have 130 million people with a chronic disease in this country we are spending 18% of our GDP and growing on health care cost over4 trillion doar and health outcomes are getting worse 25% of the world’s adult population is estimated to be living with cardi metabolic syndrome less than 7% of Americans have optimal cardiometabolic public health so tell me about the micro steps that you have created through Thrive Global so our motto is micr steps too small to fade if you take sleep for example and you create a transition to sleep which is key the first micro step is to charge your phone outside your bedroom now 72% of people sleep with their phones on their nightstands or cuddle up in bed with them and if I tell you put your phone away may seem like impossible well you need it as an alarm is usually there so exactly so we say first of all oldfashioned alarm clocks about $35 highly recommend them we give them to people for holidays no excuses that’s no excuses but also start with one night a away don’t make the goal the end enemy of starting yes so whatever them the step break it down to something that’s doable and um that’s really what changes outcomes because then you build success learning to modulate the stress response in everyday situations is vital for long-term health and well-being in today’s world the fight ORF flight response can be triggered by non-life-threatening stressors like work deadlines public speaking relation ship conflicts Financial worries and traffic while the fight ORF flight response is helpful for True emergencies frequent or chronic activation due to Everyday stress can be detrimental to health and contribute to issues like high blood pressure anxiety disorders depression digestive problems and sleep issues the fight ORF flight response is triggered by the sympathetic nervous system we know from science that it takes 60 to 90 seconds to move us from the simp sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system building on this scientific discovery a simple 60-second reset focusing on breathing gratitude and images that bring us joy can turn the fight ORF flight response around modern science is validating ancient wisdom in Japan it’s the concept of ma ma which literally means pause and that is so key and Modern Life has lost that we literally go from one thing to another to another to another we multitask and we think it’s making us more productive but efficient it’s inefficient correct it’s making us less efficient and more stressed so if we can integrate these concepts of the pause reset more and it’s really focusing on our breath you know we breathe bre all the time but we breathe unconsciously so breathing consciously is incredibly important and you know I tell busy Executives who say Ariana don’t have time well you know Navy Seals do it the Texas Heart Institute is partnering with Thrive Global on a unique public education series that focuses on how the five foundational behaviors sleep food movement Stress Management and connection impact People’s Health including managing chronic diseases such as cardi metabolic syndrome so tell me about the partnership that the Texas Heart Institute has with Thrive Global well we are very excited to partner with um thi to create these videos which we see as an ongoing collaboration H with doctors and scientists who as well as their other huge contributions to Medicine believe in Behavior change and behavioral empowerment as you called it because we feel it’s going to elevate the importance of daily behaviors in terms of people’s health and so many of the people that we’ve recruited to do these videos have integrated these behaviors into their lives and so they’re not speaking just from from the perspective of science and medicine but from a very personal perspective that these are the things that I’ve been able to do and this is how I’ve integrated them into my healthy behaviors when you think of how busy doctors are when they see patients you will have a series of videos and at the end of the visit the doctor can say here’s a link you can watch these videos about these five key behaviors you have to give people information that’s tangible and a lot of people prefer to consume it in video form we’ll also have it in text form but making it easier for people we also spoke about how new technology can be used to leverage things like AI to promote healthy outcomes and well-being in everyone Thrive AI Health was um funded um by Thrive and open AI as well as the Ali Walton Foundation and Eli Lily to affect Health outcomes scale and democratize the knowledge we have so I think it’s so important to use the power of AI to hyper personalize nages and recommendations lifestyle modification plays a crucial role in preventing and managing chronic diseases and the Texas Heart Institute is dedicated to pioneering better ways for patients to work with their doctors to develop sustainable longlasting healthy habits visit Texas Heart TV to learn more about how you can partner with your doctor to prevent cardiovascular syndrome and its consequences also look for our final episodes in thi and Thrive Global’s new series this fall for the heartbeat I’m Maya Pomroy
Cardiometabolic syndrome significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and other chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer, and sleep apnea.
In this episode of The Heart Beat, Maya Pomroy sits down with THI President and CEO, Dr. Joseph G. Rogers, and Thrive Global’s founder, Arianna Huffington, to explore how behavior modification and technology, like AI, can transform health outcomes. The trio explores micro steps for change and the importance of addressing health inequities to promote a healthier future for everyone.
Learn how small changes in daily habits—sleep, nutrition, movement, stress management, and connection—can revolutionize well-being and productivity, and discover how the Thrive Global approach is working to make these changes accessible to all.
Cardiometabolic Syndrome Recap: https://www.texasheart.org/a-healthy-fireside-chat-with-arianna-huffington-and-joseph-g-rogers/
Watch the fireside chat between Dr. Joseph G. Rogers and Arianna Huffington on Behavior Change and Health Outcomes in the Age of AI: https://tv.texasheart.org/2024-cardiometabolic-syndrome-conference/season:1/videos/arianna-huffington-innovating-health-and-productivity-with-ai-and-behavior-change