Dr. Abdou Receives Lifestyle Medicine Certification

Andrew Abdou, DO, received certification from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, a society of medical professionals united to reverse chronic diseases. As part of his coursework, Dr. Abdou attended in-person conferences, composed a case study and sat for a board exam to successfully complete the program.

Lifestyle Medicine is based on six pillars: whole food plant based nutrition, physical activity, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, restorative sleep and social connection.

“Lifestyle Medicine goes hand-in-hand with Physical Rehabilitation Medicine (PM&R) and how we treat the whole-person at Burke,” said Dr. Abdou. “Patients are craving this information and knowledge. As PM&R specialists, we ask how many stairs are in a patient’s home? We also must ask what is in their refrigerator and how much they exercise.”

Dr. Abdou is an attending physician on Burke’s comprehensive stroke team and specializes in electrodiagnostics and neurorehabilitation medicine. He is also a member of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Montefiore Health System.

Diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity are often underlying conditions leading to a stroke. Dr. Abdou is sharing Lifestyle Medicine tools with fellows and residents as part of their educational experience at Burke.