The campaign addressed weighty matters like obesity and related diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure. Free check ups and consultations were offered by [...]]]>

The fourth and last phase of Dubai Municipality’s public health campaign under the slogan “Together for a healthier lifestyle” was held in the jogging track of Jumeirah Open Beach recently.

The campaign addressed weighty matters like obesity and related diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure. Free check ups and consultations were offered by the medical staff of the Clinic and Medical Services Section of the Public Health Services Department of the Municipality in collaboration with doctors and specialists from outside the Municipality. Doctors advised the public on the benefits of walking regularly during the campaign, which was supported by Almarai.

The campaign was mainly organized to create awareness among the public on the diseases resulting from the pressure of modern life, and promote the health services provided by the Municipality as well as promoting the walking tracks and increasing the number of visitors to these facilities.

Besides, the campaign was aimed at establishing an initial database on the types and levels of chronic diseases among the members of the community, and having a positive interaction with them to understand their needs regarding Municipality services, in addition to conducting tests for sugar, pressure, cholesterol, Body Mass Index, and to provide medical advice.

During the first phase of the campaign at Al Khawaneej a total of 150 people participated, 90 men and 60 women. Out of these 80% people were practicing walking and some men were also playing football. The tests conducted during the campaign revealed that 20 people (13.3%) were having high blood pressure and 28 people (18.6%) were reported with high blood sugar and 60 people (40%) with high cholesterol.

The second phase of the campaign held at Safa Park saw the participation of 211 people, 78% men and 21% women. Out of these 75% people were found to be practicing walking. The tests conducted among the participants revealed that 20% were having high cholesterol, 14% people with high blood sugar and about 19% with high blood pressure.

The third phase the campaign at Al Mamzar Park has resulted 311 practitioners, 236 males and 65 females. Out of these 234 people were found to be practicing walking, 124 people were found having high blood pressure and 131 people with high blood sugar.

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The study, conducted by the National Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics (NCDEG), revealed that 73.7 per cent of Jordanian women over 25 suffer from vitamin D deficiency, while two-thirds suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency.

NCDEG Director [...]]]>

Majority of Jordanian women over the age of 25 suffer from vitamin D deficiency, a study released on Monday indicated.

The study, conducted by the National Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics (NCDEG), revealed that 73.7 per cent of Jordanian women over 25 suffer from vitamin D deficiency, while two-thirds suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency.

NCDEG Director General Kamel Ajlouni described the figures as “alarming”, noting that vitamin D deficiency can lead to serious chronic diseases including cardiovascular disorders, cancers and osteomalacia.

The study, funded by the Higher Education Ministry’s Scientific Research Fund, surveyed 5,636 people from all the Kingdom’s governorates last year.

It indicated that 65.5 per cent of Jordanian men above the age of 25 also suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency, 22.4 per cent are vitamin D deficient, and 5.2 per cent have acute vitamin D deficiency.

Ajlouni attributed the high rates of vitamin D deficiency to a lack of exposure to sunlight, recommending that Jordanian women take a vitamin D supplement.

The prevalence of obesity in the Kingdom is also high, Ajlouni pointed out, noting that obese people are at a higher risk of vitamin D deficiency.

According to the study, 84 per cent of women in the Kingdom are obese or overweight, compared to 80.8 per cent of males. Ajlouni explained that obesity is a main cause of diabetes, calling on citizens to maintain physical fitness to avoid chronic health problems.

He also criticized the Ministry of Health for allocating more funding for AIDS than chronic diseases, such as diabetes, which lead to higher mortality rates.

The study’s results also showed that 64.7 per cent of Jordanian men suffer from high triglycerides, compared to 47.5 per cent of women.

Hypertension prevalence is 54.6 per cent among males compared to 39.8 per cent among females, while 46.5 per of cent females and 43.6 per cent of males suffer from metabolic syndrome, it added.

Following the launch of this study’s findings, Minister of Health Nayef Fayez revealed that the ministry will launch a programme to fortify flour with vitamin D in April. He noted that the national expenditure on treatment of chronic disease is estimated at JD600 million.

Fayez added that the ministry will soon implement a nationwide plan for the prevention of chronic diseases and train 140 doctors at the NCDEG to oversee the plan.

Vitamin D is found in many dietary sources such as fish, eggs, fortified milk and cod liver oil. The major biologic function of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus, according to the Mayo Clinic.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control, vitamin D deficiency is characterised by inadequate mineralisation or by demineralisation of the skeleton. Among children, vitamin D deficiency is a common cause of bone deformities known as rickets. Vitamin D deficiency in adults leads to a mineralisation defect in the skeleton, causing osteomalacia, and induces secondary hyperparathyroidism with consequent bone loss and osteoporosis.

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JFDA Director General Mohammad Rawashdeh told The Jordan Times that the administration last week closed an unlicensed factory belonging to a non-Jordanian doctor who [...]]]>

The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) on Monday warned the public against certain “doctors” who appear on satellite channels claiming they can treat some chronic and infectious diseases using herbal remedies.

JFDA Director General Mohammad Rawashdeh told The Jordan Times that the administration last week closed an unlicensed factory belonging to a non-Jordanian doctor who claims he can cure chronic diseases and other maladies.

He noted that the factory was discovered in a building in east Amman, which also houses a call centre.

“The manufacturer is marketing his products on one of the satellite channels and people telephone the call centre, where they are advised about the medicine and the cost that they should transfer to a certain bank account,” Rawashdeh explained.

He noted that the administration found the factory through a shipping company that delivers its products to customers.

Rawashdeh said the doctor was prohibited from producing and marketing his products in the Kingdom “some time ago”, but then began smuggling them in from a neighboring country.

“Each packet in the shipment contained six bottles of herbal mixtures, claiming to cure cancer and other chronic diseases, together with a cassette or CD from the producer providing instructions on how to use them,” Rawashdeh noted.

He added that those who ordered this shipment had already paid JD500 to the manufacturer and around JD80 to the smugglers.

After the smuggling attempt was foiled, the doctor opened the illegal factory in Amman, according to Rawashdeh, who added that the administration received several complaints from people who used his products.

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The checkups and consultations will be offered by the medical staff of the clinic and Medical Services Section of the Public Health Services Department of the Municipality in collaboration with doctors [...]]]>

Dubai Municipality has organised today a health campaign to provide free medical check-ups and consultations for those who do regular walking as exercise in Dubai.

The checkups and consultations will be offered by the medical staff of the clinic and Medical Services Section of the Public Health Services Department of the Municipality in collaboration with doctors and specialists from outside the Municipality, said Ahmed Salman Al Salman, head of Media Section in the Corporate Marketing and Relations Department.

He said the health campaign will be held at the jogging tracks in the parks at Al Khawaneej, Al Safa, Al Mamzar, Jumeirah Open Beach and Al Twar-1 and Al Twar-3. The municipality will also conduct exercise workshops.

He said the health campaign is being organised to create awareness among the public on lifestyle diseases and promote health services. The campaign is also aimed at establishing an initial database on the types and levels of chronic diseases among the members of the community.

Municipality officials will conduct tests for sugar, pressure, cholesterol, Body Mass Index, and provide medical advice.

Dr Munir Hamad, general practitioner at the Clinic and Medical Services Section of the Public Health Services Department, said the campaign will help in the early detection of risk factors associated with diseases such as blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.

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Experts at the three-day Healthcare Travel Congress that began on Sunday said that the local government urgently needs to address licensing, recruitment and accreditation issues in the healthcare sector so as to overcome [...]]]>

Healthcare experts have urged for national dialogue and formation of public private partnerships in the UAE to meet challenges of the growing market.

Experts at the three-day Healthcare Travel Congress that began on Sunday said that the local government urgently needs to address licensing, recruitment and accreditation issues in the healthcare sector so as to overcome the challenges of a market that is growing rapidly, locally and regionally despite the economic downturn.

“The government cannot endlessly invest in healthcare without participation from the private sector,” said Dr Prem Jagyasi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ExHealth. He was addressing a session on ‘Growing Healthcare Demand in the Middle East’. “This partnership is vital to meet the increase in demand for quality healthcare in the country,” he added.

However, he said the government needs to invest in emergency healthcare and on prevention and education of chronic diseases. “For example, the government should spend Dh100-200 million on educating and preventing diabetes rather than on curing ailments resulting from the disease,” he explained.

Though nationals and expatriates seek primary care in the country, many prefer to travel abroad for specialised services. “The government also needs to develop trust and confidence in the local healthcare industry,” said Dr Jagyasi saying this was a major challenge facing the local industry.

Visa restrictions in the West following September 11 attacks and introduction of health insurance are among the reasons for the growth of the regional industry, currently growing at the rate of 15 per cent annually and estimated to increase from the current $12 billion to $60 billion in 2025, said experts.

“The GCC is a much bigger market than thought and currently healthcare is an increasing concern for governments,” said Dr Mounes Kalaawi, Chairman of Clemenceau Medicine International and Chief Executive Officer of Clemenceau Medicine Centre in Lebanon. The experts also called for formation of a regional networking platform for healthcare professionals. “To promote high standards of healthcare and overcome staff shortages, we need to network and ease travel restrictions among countries,” said Dr Kalaawi.

“This region is working towards creating a profitable medical tourism industry but we recognise that we have some way to go before this industry is mature,” said Laila Al Jassmi, Chief Executive Officer of the Clinical Support Services Sector of the Dubai Health Authority. “We need to increase the demand and supply of our healthcare sector and this can only be done by restructuring and enhancing our in-house healthcare strategy,” she said.

She also said that to boost medical tourism in the country, both UAE nationals and residents should have equal access to healthcare. “The government recognises that our patients still require the expertise from medical professionals abroad which is why we have increased the number of visiting physicians by 10 per cent per year,” she added.

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Diabetes and hypertension have become increasingly prevalent due to extremely busy lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits and a highly competitive workplace. Over 360,000 Singaporeans have diabetes and over 900,000 suffer from hypertension. These diseases are called ‘Silent Killers’, they lack clear symptoms and patients are often caught completely unaware till it is too late. Hence regular [...]]]>

INTRODUCTION

Diabetes and hypertension have become increasingly prevalent due to extremely busy lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits and a highly competitive workplace. Over 360,000 Singaporeans have diabetes and over 900,000 suffer from hypertension. These diseases are called ‘Silent Killers’, they lack clear symptoms and patients are often caught completely unaware till it is too late. Hence regular monitoring of one’s health is very important. However, for some people regular monitoring does not just entail a yearly medical checkup or a monthly visit to the general physician. They need to take their health readings 3 to 5 times a day, sometimes even more. As such, this data should be provided to the patient’s doctors to enable better management of chronic diseases.

The rapid advancement of mobile communication technologies offers innumerable opportunities for developing convenient health monitoring solutions at significantly lower costs. This would also benefit developing regions where healthcare is still inaccessible to a vast majority, but have high mobile penetration rates. This paper aims at describing one such project which provides an end-to-end solution for remote monitoring of blood pressure.

METHODOLOGY

The application developed in this study has three main components – a web service which collects health data and relays feedback, a mobile client for the patients and a website client for the doctors to monitor and manage their patients’ health. All the components in this project were designed using Java – J2ME for the mobile client, Java API for XML Web Services (JAXWS) and JSP for the website client. The entire system was tested using a Nokia E71 mobile phone and the web service and website client running on an Apache Tomcat Server.

The following figure illustrates the architecture of the system. authentication a user is automatically redirected to his portal depending on his status within the system. This logical separation of the portals allows for further customization of the website to accurately reflect the different needs of doctors and patients from a remote health monitoring service.

The data obtained from the patients in this system is currently available to doctors through the website interface. However, the web service could be integrated with existing hospital infrastructure to provide this data to doctors on their existing applications – making it even more convenient for
them to use.

BENEFITS

Considering the increase in lifestyle disorders such as diabetes and hypertension – remote monitoring at the point of care provides clear benefits. Such a service would improve the quality of healthcare by allowing doctors to make more informed choices. Moreover, such a service would reduce the number of visits required to the hospital – enabling doctors to focus their attention on patients that really need to be examined in a hospital.

The mobile client provides a platform which could be integrated with point-of-care diagnostic medical devices in the future. The devices could directly provide the mobile client with the health readings of the patient via Bluetooth or other wireless methods. This would remove the need for the patient to manually enter the health reading – hence provide an end-to-end automatic remote health monitoring system.

The website client provides one single portal providing a summary view of all the patients – enabling quick and easy monitoring. This helps the doctor save time and direct his efforts to improved healthcare. The client also provides automatic alerts when Blood Pressure goes above a certain threshold. This enables the doctor to send timely recommendations to the patient – vital for quality healthcare.

Independent research indicates that remote monitoring of blood pressure (BP) is accurate and helps patients gain control over their BP. When used regularly, this can improve control and help reduce health problems associated with high BP (a condition known as hypertension) [7]. Though this project focused only on remote monitoring of Blood Pressure, it could easily be extended to monitor other chronic diseases – since the underlying architecture would remain the same.

Besides aiding in managing lifestyle disorders, such a service also provides an infrastructure for providing diagnosis in inaccessible remote areas, for the elderly as well as for emergency healthcare during disaster recovery. By utilising mobile phones for remote telemedicine – accurate diagnosis can be provided to anyone, anywhere in the world.

PAST EFFORTS

Remote monitoring of health parameters essentially involves two phases – collection of data from the patient and transmission of this data to a remote location. There have been several attempts at making effective remote health monitoring solutions in the past. The collection and transmission of data in many of these solutions differ widely.

One such product that enables remote blood sugar monitoring is Gluco+ by HealthPia, USA [2]. Gluco+ is a glucometer add-on that can be attached to supported mobile phones. The same company also manufactures the GlucoPhone – a mobile phone with an integrated glucometer. Both these products demonstrate the use of mobile phones in remote management of diabetes. Data collected through the telemedicine would not attract large scale adoption by hospitals.

Conclusion

The study demonstrates the power of mobile communications technology to aid doctors and patients and improving the quality of healthcare. Inadequate understanding of the requirement of doctors as well as patients from such a service has limited wide scale adoption of past efforts. Further research into the requirements of doctors, patients as well as hospitals would enable this technology to be practically realized and open room for further innovation in remote telemedicine.

Please add your feedback and suggestions for this project and what if there is any comment for or against.

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Recent studies show that one in four Emiratis has diabetes in contrast with the world [...]]]>

Health experts are now concerned that the residents’ cosmopolitan lifestyle is taking its toll on their health and will need to undergo a dramatic paradigm shift in order to prevent further rise in the number of lives taken by chronic diseases.

Recent studies show that one in four Emiratis has diabetes in contrast with the world average of 5%. The World Health Organisation has also predicted that diabetes deaths will increase by more than 50% in the next 10 years if no preventive measures are taken. Meanwhile, osteoporosis, a bone-weakening disorder, affects 70% of women over 60 in the GCC. But even with the higher prevalence of these diseases, fewer residents are interested in tackling these life-threatening conditions, with 42% of women putting staying slim as their top health concern.

Such widespread occurrence of chronic illnesses and ignorance of vital health issues among UAE residents has caused authorities to urge residents to seize every available opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle.

CENIGENT’s systems approach differs tremendously from the current modern “reductionist” medical approach, which focuses on treating the end-symptoms of disease, rather than the core causes, and according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), “treats disease in isolation, without taking into account the integrative systems in the human body.”

As the first and only medical facility using a systems approach in a clinical setting, California-headquartered CENIGENT delineates itself from modern medicine’s philosophy that aging and age-related chronic diseases inevitably occur and should be accepted. CENIGENT’s view is that age-related health decline occurs due to functional deterioration of the eight CENIGENT systems and can be prevented by restoring the optimal functioning to all eight systems.

To achieve this, CENIGENT follows a systems approach, performing predictive testing and assessments followed by restorative measures to optimise the major systems, avert age-related health decline and achieve peak health. CENIGENT conducts comprehensive predictive and preventive diagnostics for more than 750 biomarkers, as well as screening and total body imaging diagnostics, to assess all aspects of existing and potential health decline.

Building the First Systems and Genetic-Based Medical Practice

CENIGENT’s systems approach recognises the body as a complex system and has classified eight core sub-systems and their relationships to health and disease.  When there is a dysfunction in any of these core systems, it can lead to age-related chronic disease.

C – Cellular System
E – Endocrine System
N – Nervous System
I – Immune System
G – Genetic System
E – Epigenetic System
N – Nutrigenomics
T – Thought System

These subsystems and their relationships are the common links for many age-related chronic diseases including cardiovascular, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, obesity, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and others.  CENIGENT exhaustively evaluates and optimizes these sub-systems to predict, prevent and treat disease,” said Lida Ghaderi, M.D., founder and medical director of CENIGENT, a noted internist with expertise in the new field of personalised genetics.

“CENIGENT uses the information from personalised genetic testing differently than simply assigning risks for diseases. We use proprietary genetic software and exhaustive research on these results to recommend personalised treatment programmes, translating to better prevention and treatment of disease. We also accommodate Islamic religious laws, such as offering Halal meals and the necessary prayer items, and make sure our treatments are Halal as well,” she added.

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