It’s now been over 25 years since the first edition of James Rippe, MD’s Lifestyle Medicine textbook. During that quarter century the field of Lifestyle Medicine has seen explosive growth. And throughout, the science and foundations of that discipline have been faithfully summarized in the progressive Lifestyle Medicine textbook series. In this fourth edition, Dr Rippe and over 325 colleagues have continued to establish this text as the academic gold standard and must have resource for any library or educational institution seriously committed to including Lifestyle Medicine in its’ offerings. And at this point that should be every single health care related institution and academic discipline dedicated to seriously moving real health concepts forward.
The fourth edition continues the time honored and proven traditions of looking at Lifestyle Medicine from a lifestyle intervention perspective, with sections on nutrition, physical activity, and behavioral health; from a disease perspective, with sections on cardiovascular disease, cancer, dysglycemia, substance abuse and addiction, and many more; and from a societal perspective, with sections on pediatrics, women’s health, geriatrics, and public and environmental health. In total 22 sections and 131 chapters lay out the field of Lifestyle Medicine in a thorough and insightful manner. Although the book is most remarkable for its’ comprehensive depth, practical tips are continued throughout. This includes “key point” summaries at the beginning of each chapter, and practical “clinical application” tips that help to summarize the chapter content as part of its’ conclusion. A full and augmented section on the practice of Lifestyle Medicine continues as well.
When compared to the third addition, the fourth addition has added three new sections—Lifestyle Medicine and Nursing, Mental Health and Psychiatry, and Preventive Neurology. These sections highlight the fact that Lifestyle Medicine is multi-disciplinary, and requires a firm neuroscience and biopsychosocial foundation to effectively meet its promise. Multiple individual new chapters also exist, including summaries of Culinary Medicine by Uma Naidoo, Nutrition, Lifestyle and the Environment by Colin Campbell, and Lifestyle Medicine research by Micaela Karlson and Kara Staffier. The fourth addition also nods in significant ways to the advancement of Lifestyle Medicine related technologies, with discussions on wearables and digital health; and to the progression of disease and prevention throughout society, with chapters on cancer vaccines and COVID-19.
As the field of Lifestyle Medicine has advanced, Dr Rippe has continued to bring in recognized researchers, teachers and leaders in their respective areas of expertise. Chapter authors are consistently considered to be either the foremost authority, or one of the most influential experts in their chapter topic. The fourth addition continues the balance of the previous additions where Lifestyle Medicine as a discipline is both defined and reflected in a wholistic way. Because the evidence for Lifestyle Medicine comes from a spectrum of fields and disciplines, a textbook summary of the broad Lifestyle Medicine science does not occur naturally. With this fourth edition, the Lifestyle Medicine textbook series continues to admirably fill that gap. The field of Lifestyle Medicine challenges many traditional health care delivery approaches and institutions. If practices are going to shift away from the current heavy reliance on pharmaceuticals and medical devices the evidence for this must be meticulously and scientifically summarized. This text achieves that. The field of Lifestyle Medicine owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to James Rippe, MD and his colleagues for continuing their dedication to defining, cataloging and making practical Lifestyle Medicine for all.
While Dr James Rippe is the Editor of the 4th edition of Lifestyle Medicine and the Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, he had no influence over the book reviewer and played no editorial role whatsoever in the book review.