This Lunch and Learn session with Gina Lokna, MD, explores the intersection of sports medicine and wellness, emphasizing the importance of prevention in healthcare. Drawing on her extensive experience in musculoskeletal and integrative medicine, Dr. Lokna advocates for a proactive approach to patient care, focusing on injury prevention, exercise, nutrition, and stress management. The session provides actionable insights into how healthcare professionals can empower their patients to maintain optimal health and prevent chronic diseases.
Quick insights
- Whole-person approach: Dr. Lokna advocates treating the patient as a whole entity, integrating body, mind, and lifestyle to optimize health.
- Wellness review of systems: implementing a “wellness review” alongside standard medical assessments helps uncover factors impacting long-term health, such as exercise, sleep, nutrition, and stress.
- Exercise as a foundation: regular exercise is a powerful preventative tool, with Dr. Lokna outlining the benefits of cardio, strength training, and flexibility exercises.
- Sleep and nutrition: prioritizing sleep hygiene and reducing sugar in diets are critical to improving overall health and managing conditions like inflammation and metabolic dysregulation.
- Stress resilience: developing stress resilience through mindfulness and wellness practices is essential for both patients and healthcare professionals.
Video highlights
00:00 – Introduction
Dr. Scott Fishman introduces Dr. Gina Lokna and sets the stage by discussing the importance of integrating wellness into traditional healthcare practices.
04:49 – Dr. Lokna’s background and sports medicine
Dr. Lokna shares her journey into sports medicine and how her personal experiences influenced her approach to wellness and preventive care.
08:00 – Whole-body wellness in patient care
She explains how sports medicine principles, often used for athletes, can be applied to all patients for improving quality of life and preventing chronic illness.
10:57 – Functional medicine and root cause approach
Dr. Lokna discusses her transition to integrative and functional medicine, focusing on finding the root causes of health issues to address them proactively.
18:27 – The Wellness Review of Systems
She introduces her unique “Wellness Review of Systems,” a structured method for assessing patients’ overall health, including exercise, sleep, nutrition, and stress.
25:49 – The role of exercise in wellness
Dr. Lokna highlights the importance of regular movement, strength training, and flexibility, emphasizing that exercise is the foundation of wellness.
34:36 – Sleep hygiene and metabolic health
The critical role of sleep in overall health is explored, along with the impact of sleep deprivation on metabolism, mood, and long-term health.
36:08 – Nutrition and inflammation
Dr. Lokna discusses the impact of sugar and processed foods on inflammation and offers simple dietary changes to improve health.
38:00 – Stress management and resilience
She provides tips for developing stress resilience through mindfulness, movement, and wellness practices, vital for both patients and clinicians.
44:17 – Q&A on integrating wellness in healthcare
The session concludes with a Q&A where Dr. Lokna addresses how healthcare professionals can incorporate wellness strategies into their practice.
Resources
- Functional Medicine Resources
- Exercise Guidelines
- Nutrition and Wellness
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
- National Sleep Foundation: Sleep Hygiene