American College of Lifestyle Medicine announces call to action to advance remission as a clinical goal for chronic disease

Project Remission challenges the notion that chronic disease is inevitably lifelong by spotlighting evidence that remission may be achieved when clinical care addresses its root causes.

ST. LOUIS, July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) today announced the launch of Project Remission, a call to action to shift the goal of chronic disease care from symptom management to the possibility of achieving remission and health restoration.

Grounded in scientific evidence and real-world clinical practice, the project challenges the assumption that chronic disease should be treated as lifelong and progressive by demonstrating that addressing the root causes of disease through lifestyle interventions can lead to meaningful improvements in health outcomes.

The project highlights evidence and practical applications related to conditions that often share common underlying drivers, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity. With 90% of the nation's $5.3 trillion in annual healthcare spending tied to people living with chronic and mental health conditions, Project Remission underscores the urgent need for approaches that address root causes rather than simply manage disease over time.

"The greatest failure in chronic disease care may be how little we ask about what's truly possible," said ACLM CEO John Findley, MD, CPE. "The science is clear that remission may be achievable for some patients when we address the root causes of disease, resulting in better outcomes, lower costs and improved quality of life. Project Remission is a call to action for the medical community to think and move beyond simply managing disease and begin designing care around the possibility of restoring health."

The project features educational content, clinical evidence, implementation resources, and examples of remission-focused care from organizations and clinicians working to improve outcomes through lifestyle medicine. Project Remission also offers practical frameworks and training that can help health systems translate research into routine clinical practice.

Project Remission expands on the March 2026 launch of Project Remission: A Lifestyle Medicine Approach to Type 2 Diabetes, a digital film series collaboration from ACLM and Content with Purpose that spotlights the ability of lifestyle medicine to reshape care for type 2 diabetes. The series featured clinicians, health systems and organizations integrating lifestyle medicine into real-world practice settings, as well as interviews with patients recounting their health journeys.

"Among people with type 2 diabetes, we have clear evidence that remission of conditions often considered permanent is possible, sometimes even for those with a long duration of disease," said ACLM Senior Director of Research and Quality Micaela Karlsen, PhD, MSPH. "Hypertension is a condition that responds rapidly to lifestyle interventions. And obesity is an example of how addressing underlying metabolic and lifestyle factors can influence multiple chronic conditions simultaneously. Project Remission provides an inspiring synthesis of this growing evidence with stories of lived experiences of patients and clinicians."

Explore the Project Remission resources here.

About ACLM®
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the nation's medical professional society building the infrastructure to scale lifestyle medicine as the new standard of care. ACLM translates evidence-based lifestyle interventions into education, certification, and implementation, equipping physicians, healthcare professionals, and systems of care to treat the root causes of chronic disease. Since 2004, ACLM has trained more than 100,000 health professionals and made more than 1.75 million hours of accredited continuing education available through courses and conferences for physicians and health professionals. With hundreds of institutional partners worldwide, ACLM is helping healthcare move from a system designed to manage disease to one capable of restoring health.

SOURCE American College of Lifestyle Medicine