It has been 120 years since Beecher’s profound acknowledgement
of both the power of the individual to battle illness, as well as
the role of the health care practitioner to summon that power
when needed. These two forces, combined, have been the subject
of prolific investigation in the intervening years, spanning
such topics as theoretical models of behavioral change, selfmanagement
of chronic disease, improvement of doctor-patient
relationships, the role of social support, optimism, and positive
affect on health and well-being, and lifestyle modification for the
prevention and treatment of chronic disease. Most recently, genelifestyle
interaction, in which physiological adaptation to physical
activity, diet, or other behaviors is linked to genomic variation,
and conversely, diet or exercise results in epigenetic modification
altering gene expression, has sparked enormous interest. Never
before have we had so much indication that our behavior and our
will are integral to our well being and resistance to disease.
Despite this wealth of knowledge, exercise as medicine remains
at the periphery of medical education, clinical practice, and health
care policy, particularly as it applies to older adults. Few health
care professionals are sufficiently trained to understand or
implement lifestyle modification; health services and clinical
programs are not designed to deliver it in a manner that is
robust, sustainable, or evidence-based, and insurance providers/
Medicare do not generally cover provision of lifestyle programs,
except for time-limited diagnostic indications. If we had a pill
that could cut the risk of heart disease in half, surely it would
be funded by our government, and promoted by all health care
practitioners starting in early life. We have that pill; its name
is exercise.10 Similarly, lifestyle modification (diet and exercise)
has now been shown in diabetes prevention trials to reduce
incident type 2 diabetes in high-risk adults by 30-70% in the US,
China, Finland, India, Japan, Italy, and Sweden—much more
effectively than metformin.56-58 Yet it is metformin that is available
and reimbursable in most countries for this purpose, and the
translation of the randomized trial evidence into primary care is
far from accomplished, accepted, or proven as cost-effective.57,59
The gap between knowledge and effective health promotion by
clinicians and government policy is nowhere more evident than in
these examples.