Wincanton GP leads the way on metabolic health awareness

There’s no better time to talk about metabolic health and how a few simple and easy-to-make changes can lead to significant, and often quick, improvements in our health and wellbeing.

Many of the common problems that people contact their GP practice about include being tired all the time, general aches and pains, feeling fed up, joint problems, skin problems, and excess belly fat – all of these could mean a person has poor metabolic health.

Over the last year, the profile of metabolic health has become more widespread, and it’s got patients, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals talking about it.

One of those doctors who champions good metabolic health is Dr Campbell Murdoch, a GP from Wincanton Health Centre, which is run by Symphony Healthcare Services.

Dr Murdoch and his health coach colleagues, Megan Perrin and Sarah Wiscombe, have recently run a session all about metabolic health that was attended by over 150 people – an incredible turnout for this type of event.

“We ran a metabolic health event to encourage and support people in the community to improve their health, and connect with the many other organisations outside the NHS that can also help,” says Dr Murdoch.

“In fact, at the regular patient support group that we ran on the following Monday, we saw around five times the usual number of people attend, which was incredible to hear. They told us that our metabolic health session had transformed the way they thought about things.

“Poor metabolic health affects the vast majority of our population, causing them to feel unwell and struggle with their mood and energy, while it’s also a cause for most modern diseases.

“It’s really great that many more people are becoming aware of metabolic health, and the great hope is that people can very rapidly improve their health, where they notice some benefits within days, and significant improvements in just a few weeks.

“Areas of improvement range from people generally having more energy, a clearer mind and better mood. Also, those who want to lose weight will find that they manage to do so, with their waistline slimming – all without making a huge amount of effort.

“People with type 2 diabetes can see their condition rapidly improve too, with patients sometimes able to come off some medications within weeks, as well as blood pressure significantly improving for half of people, and slightly improving for the rest. Many people find that their general aches, pains and minor niggles seem to improve too.

“Of course before anyone makes drastic lifestyle changes, if they’re on medication for diabetes or high blood pressure or warfarin, for example, then they should always speak to their GP or other healthcare professional first.”

Dr Murdoch adds that the best way for people to experience the benefits is to have an understanding of how metabolic health is very much the ‘engine for life’ – and how the body stores energy and releases it, while keeping itself in a state of balance.

“Metabolic health is very closely linked to what we choose to eat and how we move, as well as sleep and stress levels,” he continues.

“I find that poor metabolic health is an underlying cause in about half the patients I see in a single day, but there’s no reason they’d know this, so raising awareness and education is really important.

“I tend to find that when people realise that this is potentially a root cause for what they’re experiencing, they’re often relieved and reassured that they have an explanation and can do something about it, not just keep getting sicker as they get older and needing more tablets.

“A very easy marker that everyone can do is the waist-to-height ratio, where if their waist circumference is more than half their height, then the chances are that their metabolic health could be improved.

“Most of the patients I see want a clear plan on either how to get better or how to improve their overall health, and that’s something we can do through metabolic health plans, where we can create a short term or 28 day plan, which can achieve the most incredible results, and it’s designed to be inclusive for everybody’s dietary preferences too.”

The role of health coaches as part of the wider GP practice team is also important in helping people to achieve a good metabolic health.

“Our health coaches help patients to put changes into action and maintain them together for many people with support from others,” Dr Murdoch continues.

“At Wincanton Health Centre, our health coaches Megan and Sarah do just that, and they’ve even created a metabolic health peer support group that everyone is welcome to join.”

Dr Murdoch describes the experience of a patient, who’s happy to share their story to help raise awareness of metabolic health.

“One of the patients I saw recently was a 30 year old man who had been in intensive care with COVID a couple of years ago and was still completely fatigued ever since,” he continues.

“He came to see me, and I felt that his metabolic health was one of the key reasons he was experiencing certain symptoms.

“I suggested he take on the 28 day plan, and four weeks later he had lost a stone and his blood pressure had massively reduced, and we could stop some blood pressure tablets.

“He had got back into his sporting hobbies, which he hadn’t been able to do since before the pandemic. He told me that he felt amazing, and his wife was fully onboard too, seeing great success herself!

“I truly believe that this 10 minute interaction with our GP practice colleagues can change the whole trajectory of their life.

“I’m always keen to look at what’s next and how we can build on what we’re doing, and I’m keen to set up a Somerset metabolic health hub, which would include supporting education throughout the county – watch this space!”

If you're interested in finding out more about the 28 Day Plan, follow this link: Metabolic Health 28 Day Plan