•     DNA Center for Integrative Medicine & Wellness is the leader in DNA testing in the UAE
•     Customised DNA and telomere testing can help stop ageing and the Center is seeing increased demand from patients across the GCC

Abu Dhabi, 19 May 2015: With obesity in the UAE double the world average[1], 19 per cent of the UAE’s population suffering from diabetes[2] and residents in the gulf on average 12 years younger when they have a heart attack compared to their counterparts in the US and Europe[3], there is growing pressure on the region’s health care providers.

Health promotion and preventative care is still a relatively new concept in the UAE but as Dr Nasim Ashraf, Founder, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of the DNA Center for Integrative Medicine & Wellness, Abu Dhabi says, it is going to become paramount in the coming years in order to reduce the strain on the current system.

“Integrative medicine is the practice of combining conventional and complementary medicine and is effective, safe and affordable. Customised DNA testing that we offer at the DNA Center for Integrative Medicine & Wellness, can identify if a person has a genetic predisposition to developing chronic, lifestyle-related diseases such as ‘diabesity’ (patients who develop diabetes as a result of being obese) and we can help manage this and reduce the risk of future illnesses through a personalised programme specific to an individual’s DNA.”

The DNA Center for Integrative Medicine & Wellness is the first center to introduce customised DNA testing to the UAE in 2012 and has treated over 500 patients in the past three years. The Center is renowned for offering personalized lifestyle medicine programs that are based on a holistic approach uniting leading-edge Western medicine advanced diagnostics and clinical therapies, which are complemented by centuries-old Eastern healing traditions and philosophies.

“Currently one in three children in the UAE is overweight or obese and if this epidemic continues into adulthood, treatment of associated illnesses will completely overwhelm the healthcare system in the UAE over the next 20 to 30 years.”

In addition to being able to identify if a person is susceptible to lifestyle diseases, through analysing an individual’s DNA and using genetic biomarkers, the DNA Center’s team of leading physicians can help stop and even reverse the signs of ageing. Unlike conventional medicine that is based on treating the symptoms of ageing, customised DNA testing seeks to find and correct underlying imbalances.

To complement the customised DNA testing, the Center also offers telomere testing at its luxurious center in Abu Dhabi, which can help identify the body’s ageing pattern and is the first step to healthy ageing. The test identifies the body’s biological age and based on whether this is younger or older than their chronological age, a holistic, integrative personalised plan is devised to deal with the main concerns.

[1] World Health Organisation, February 2015

[2] International Diabetes Federation, February 2015

[3] Dr Hani Sabbour, consultant cardiologist at the Shaikh Khalifa Medical Hospital, April 2015