Precision wellness, personalised healthcare focused on new longevity program

Innovative approach combines genetics, lifestyle, and diagnostics for personalised healthcare.

The Medical City's newly introduced Wellness and Aesthetics Institute's Longevity Program is setting a new standard in personalised healthcare, focusing on early disease detection, genetic analysis, and lifestyle interventions. 

Dr. Christian Flores, Director of the Institute, sheds light on how this program stands to revolutionise patient care by tailoring health strategies to individual genetic profiles and lifestyle factors.

"The Longevity Program integrates three core components crucial for personalised healthcare: early disease screening, precision wellness evaluation, and lifestyle as medicine intervention," he said. 

He emphasised the importance of early diagnostic screening, which combines traditional methods with innovative technologies to identify disease risks promptly. "This early detection is key to preventing severe health outcomes," Flores noted, highlighting the program's proactive approach to health management.

"We're using genetic data to craft individual health plans. This includes genomics that affect diet, pharmacogenomics for medication response, and tests to determine biological age," Flores explained. These tools offer a personalised snapshot of an individual's health risks and needs, allowing for targeted interventions.

“We have built the genetics that determines how your body responds to different food components taken in a diet, such as carbohydrates, fats, protein and micronutrients. Pharmacogenomics is a tool that determines how your body responds to medications that are commonly used for different clinical conditions and symptoms," he said.

The program's ability to predict these outcomes can greatly improve medication safety and efficacy. "It's about finding the right drug for the right person at the right dose," he added, stressing the precision aspect of the treatment plans.

Flores mentioned that they examine how daily habits like diet, exercise, stress management, and social connections impact health, then they integrate this with genetic insights to develop a highly personalised health plan. 

For individuals facing weight management challenges or chronic health conditions, the program offers a comprehensive strategy for improvement. "Our objective is to not only extend life but enhance its quality," Flores asserted.

He sees the program as a means to empower individuals with knowledge and tools to take control of their health, potentially transforming the landscape of chronic disease management.

The Longevity Program is designed to adapt to the complexities of individual health, providing a nuanced approach to prevention, treatment, and wellness optimization. "The longevity program that we have really aims to help people achieve the best possible potential in terms of health in the long run. The goal is not just to live longer, which we're already doing, by the way, but to live better."