[arkades]

The first line recommendation is always diet and exercise. Pills are second line.

Some docs burn out and just start giving pills first line because 99,999% of patients do not ever do the diet and exercise, even after repeated counseling rounds.

[ip26]

And the stipulation in this discussion is that maybe we're going to learn in the next decade that going outside should have been a first line recommendation, with pills second line.

There's melanoma risk with sun exposure- but there's e-coli with produce, and a bevy of sports-related injuries.

[pessimizer]

> The first line recommendation is always diet and exercise. Pills are second line.

It would be nice if this were true. We've started to get soft industry press-pushes suggesting putting statins in the drinking water supply about every three years for the last decade.

[darkerside]

That's so fucking irresponsible. I'm not mad at you, just at any doctor that would do that.

Would you stop teaching children because they didn't know math?!

[amitport]

Doctors, with their few minutes per patient, are not in the position to teach or really influence people's habits. Teachers should teach- about exercise among other things.

[ryall]

I often wonder why GP's don't refer patients to fitness/nutrition specialists like they do for everything else.

Medical training does not cover nutrition in any depth, I'd say your average doctor is under-qualified in addition to time poor.

[nradov]

In some countries they actually do give such referrals. But it's rare in the US because most insurance plans don't cover such treatments. That is starting to change to a limited extent; my retired father receives a discount on his medical insurance for going to the gym every week.

[darkerside]

Also, parents should parent. And people should take care of themselves. I'm not saying doctors should start teaching anything. I am definitely saying that they should NOT be prescribing statins flip-ly when getting someone to diet and exercise is the correct answer.

[NikolaeVarius]

Adults are not children.

[darkerside]

Analogies, by definition, are never exactly what they say they are

[drdrey]

And sleep