THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Lords Hospital, a leading healthcare provider in Kerala for more than two decades, has partnered with a Delhi-based precision health startup, wellOwise, to bring precision diagnosis and medicine for all metabolic diseases.
Announcing this, Padma Shri Prof Dr K P Haridas, Chairman, Lords Hospital here said: “This partnership will facilitate personalised and precise treatment solutions for each person through the use of a precision diagnosis approach.”
“We hope that people will become more proactive towards their health in the post-Covid times and realise the importance of preventive health especially for diseases like diabetes and obesity, which weaken one’s immune system and make them susceptible for infections,” Dr Haridas added.
“Precision diagnosis focuses on the use of scientific research, genetic testing advances and the power of epigenetics (factors that influence genetics like our diet, lifestyle and environment) to discover the molecular changes at the DNA levels underlying a disease and provide pharmacological and dietary intervention unique to an individual,” explains Dr Saher Mehdi, Co-founder and Chief Scientist at wellOwise.
“What we are doing at wellOwise is the future of healthcare. Although the fundamentals of precision medicine and precision health are now widely accepted in medical and academic research, not many companies have taken a plunge to put this in practice. India being the chronic disease capital of the world, is the perfect place to begin such an initiative. With our diverse genetics background and unique cultural influences affecting our health, we need to use our individual variability to our advantage to stay ahead of the curve of chronic diseases.”
Dr Haridas and his team of consultants specialise in metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypertension which are at biggest risk factors for leading chronic diseases.
The current Covid-19 crisis has further reiterated the importance of staying free of comorbidities of chronic diseases, as people with diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease were worst affected by the current pandemic.
Harish Haridas, Vice Chairman, Lords said, “The partnership of Lords Hospital with India’s first precision health startup will provide the best solutions available for personalised treatment of metabolic diseases in the country.”
“This partnership is just the start of many more that we are planning in the area of specialised healthcare. We intend to curate many such partnerships with health tech startups,” Harish Haridas added.
