Lifestyle changes
An important gastrointestinal disease I want to make lifestyle changes is known as peptic ulcer disease. Peptic ulcers are the ulcers affecting the stomach and small intestine. H.pylori is the organism that has been implicated as the main cause, although there are other major risks factors. My lifestyle changes/modifications will focus on reducing those risk factors and enhancing healing. I will need to reduce alcohol and stop smoking to enhance healing.
I will totally avoid any medication that is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. As regards to diet, I will limit my exposure to caffeine and acidic foods, and focus more food rich in high fiber content because it reduce development of ulcer and speed up healing. Take more of garlic for its protective effects. Olive oil has phenolic content that fight some strains of H.pylori. As regards to exercise, I will try and have a modification that will favor taking some form of exercise occasionally. This will help reduce stress and improve my physical fitness.
Factors making implementation difficult
Stress management and food monitoring makes implementation difficult. Monitoring all intakes is always difficult to implement. This is because of the various ways in which foods are being made, their content and purchase of food in restaurants. Sometime, it might be difficult to actually check all what is being taking always hence this is a major challenge towards preventing the intake of certain foods that tend to predispose to peptic ulcer. As regards to the issue of stress management, limited time management due to occupation or studies is a factor that sometimes militate against having a lifestyle changes that prevent risks factors.
Strategies to overcome
Overcoming those highlighted obstacles to implementation will be achieved by being focused with strong determination. Starting with small changes consistently will help.
Why choosing lifestyle changes over medication
Lifestyle changes were chosen because it served to help more by reducing risk factors. In case of medication, it does not cure hence if risk factors are still present while using medication, it seems to be a fruitless efforts.
References
Zelman et al, (2010). Human Diseases: A systemic approach, Seventh Edition. Page 206. Pearson Education, Inc.
