This month, Florida Hospital and the University of Central Florida (UCF) are debuting the first issue of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (AJLM), a peer-reviewed journal with commentaries and research reviews to help clinicians guide patients to lead healthier lives. The journal is the official journal of the American Lifestyle Medicine Association.
“Lifestyle medicine, the branch of medicine which explores how daily habits and actions impact both short- and long-term health and quality of life, represents an important new era of medicine,” said Dr. James M. Rippe, chairman of the Florida Hospital Institute for Lifestyle Medicine and the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at UCF, professor of Biomedical Sciences at UCF, and editor-in-chief of the AJLM. “This national journal will be a pacesetter in the medical community and will shed light on the importance of lifestyle medicine in health.”
The AJLM will be published six times a year for an audience of 20,000 physicians and other healthcare workers. The first issue contains lifestyle medicine-related articles on topics such as how dietary factors can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, a discussion on pediatricians prescribing exercise, and a feature on a heart patient who had bypass surgery almost 30 years ago.
In November 2006, Florida Hospital and UCF announced a strategic alliance to advance research and model best practices in the emerging field of lifestyle medicine. The UCF Center for Lifestyle Medicine, located in the Central Florida Research Park adjacent to the main UCF campus, conducts research into diverse aspects of how daily lifestyle habits and actions impact short- and long-term health and quality of life.
The Florida Hospital Institute for Lifestyle Medicine, located at Florida Hospital Celebration Health, furthers the research by conducting state-of-the-art clinical application studies exploring how the findings can be used to educate people on the importance of daily lifestyle practices and habits.
The American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine is published by SAGE Publications, a leading publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. For more information about the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine or to subscribe, please visit http://ajlm.sagepub.com.