Think Differently About Health

With his clinic Lifestyle Medicine, medical specialist Prof. Dr. Carlos van Mieghem breaks away from “reactive healthcare.” “You don’t wait until you’re sixty to go for dental check-ups, do you?”

As a cardiologist, Van Mieghem was affiliated with various (academic) hospitals in the Netherlands and Flanders, including Erasmus MC and the Maasstad Hospital in Rotterdam. There, he witnessed how the healthcare system is constantly lagging behind the facts. “Cardiovascular diseases can often be predicted ten, twenty, sometimes thirty years in advance. One day, a serious crisis occurs, often resulting in sudden death.” This doesn’t only apply to heart disease—other chronic conditions, including various forms of cancer, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and Parkinson’s, are also predictable and—more importantly—largely preventable.

Van Mieghem finds it odd that we wait to see a doctor until symptoms appear. “You don’t wait until you’re sixty to visit the dentist, do you?” Modern medicine allows most people to “live” with a chronic disease for ten, twenty, thirty years. But those years are often not marked by joy, freedom, independence, and creativity, but rather by physical suffering, fear and uncertainty, limitations, and rising medical costs. “The good news is that many of these conditions are related to lifestyle and environmental factors—and are therefore often preventable.”

The good news is that many of these conditions are related to lifestyle and environmental factors—and are therefore often preventable.

The Game Changer

At his clinic Lifestyle Medicine, near Ghent, Van Mieghem offers comprehensive services designed to give everyone a fair chance at a healthy life. That doesn’t mean people won’t get sick, but it does mean that they can fight illness in the most efficient way possible when the time comes. “My practice is characterized by the maximum deployment of optimal preventive tools. Prevention is better than cure. At the same time, the curative aspect is preserved, meaning that when disease occurs, appropriate treatments are deployed.”
 
In cases of illness, the clinic provides vital connections to top specialists in specific fields, both nationally and internationally, with referrals made within a short timeframe. “My expertise lies in helping individuals rethink their personal health. I guide people in making choices that maximize the potential for a long, healthy, and meaningful life. At the same time, these choices contribute to the restoration of a healthy environment.”
 
A special group of clients at the clinic consists of entrepreneurs and CEOs. “An organization can stand or fall with a CEO, so if that person drops out due to health problems, the consequences can be immense.” In a sense, companies take out an alternative kind of insurance with Van Mieghem to ensure the continuity of their key personnel. With this approach to the top of the business world, Van Mieghem also hopes to wake up politicians, encouraging a greater focus on preventive healthcare. That focus is still largely lacking in the insurance world too, as his work is not yet reimbursed. To keep it affordable nonetheless, Lifestyle Medicine offers a subscription—even for ordinary mortals.