A new clinic will open in Dubai early next year that promises to reverse ageing in human beings by tweaking genes.
Aviv Clinics Dubai, to be set up in Jumeirah Lake Towers, will offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy that might reverse a person’s biological age.
The treatment tweaks a compound called telomeres, which is in the human DNA and acts as the ageing clock in every cell.
Telomeres get shorter each time a cell divides. Over time, it gets too short to do its job and this causes the cells to age and stop functioning properly.
The therapy tries to elongate the telomeres and reverse the biological clock.
The procedure is already used to treat several medical conditions. According to Mayo Clinic in the US, the oxygen therapy is a well-established treatment for decompression sickness, a potential risk of scuba diving.
During the treatment, the air pressure is increased two to three times higher than normal in a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber.
Those who undergo this therapy can gather much more oxygen, which helps release substances called growth factors and stem cells, reads the website of Mayo Clinic.
Dubai's Aviv Clinic’s medical programme was led by physician Prof Shai Efrati of Sagol School of Neuroscience at Shamir Medical Centre in Israel.
Prof Efrati and his team recently completed and published the first human clinical HBOT study in the world to show reversal in ageing.
The results of the trials were published in international peer-reviewed journal, Aging.
The participants in the study, who were given the special oxygen treatment, showed a significant increase in the length of their telomeres.
Researchers also noticed a decrease in senescent cells, which are found in the skin and accumulate with age.
Shorter telomeres and senescent cells are linked to age-related diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular problems, diabetes, dementia and Alzheimer’s.
“Since telomere shortening is considered the ‘holy grail’ of the biology of aging, many pharmacological and environmental interventions are being extensively explored in the hopes of enabling telomere elongation,” Prof Efrati said.
“The significant improvement of telomere length shown during and after our HBOT protocols provides the scientific community with a new foundation for understanding that aging can, indeed, be targeted and reversed at the basic cellular biological level.”
Experts at Mayo Clinic consider the procedure safe but there are some rare risks.
“The treatment can lead to ear injuries, temporary nearsightedness, seizures as a result of too much oxygen and lowered blood sugar in people who have diabetes treated with insulin,” reads the Mayo Clinic website.
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Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
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If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
