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‘Healthy ageing vital for growth of the economy’

Speaking at the two-day Medical Congress on Youth Extension kicked off in Al Murooj Rotana on Thursday, Dr Salwa Al Suweidi from the UAE, said: “Healthy ageing is vital for economic development. The predicted explosion of non-communicable diseases among older people will result in enormous human and social costs unless preventive action is taken,” she added.

She also said that data showed that some of the useful lifestyle modifications such as physical exercise, smoking cessation, controlling high blood pressure, controlling lipids, caloric restriction and nutritional support can work well and help elderly and younger people as well.

Dr Ayman Hajjar, Specialist Facial Surgeon, said the demand for cosmetic surgery and treatment was very high in the UAE.

“This is increasing for both sexes. There are different demands from different nationalities. Liposuction and facelift are popular among Arabs while breast enhancement is preferred by Europeans,” he added.

He said Botox injection has revolutionised the way people appear and feel. “The latest non-surgical skin tightening procedure is Titan. It gives an all natural option to actively turn back the clock on ageing skin without surgery and recovery time or injections,” he explained.

Talking about ethical aspects involved in anti-ageing medicine, Dr Lana Ali Badreddine, Consultant, Community Medicine and Child Health Centre in Royal Hospital, Sharjah, said: “We need to promote medico-ethical values and practices such as competence, integrity and mutual respect.”

Held under the aegis of the Ministry of Health, the Congress invited several speakers from all over the region and discussed issues related to extending youth. The conference was opened by Dr Ali bin Shakar, Under-secretary from the MoH.

Among the several issues discussed were the role of rejuvenation surgery in youth extension, healthy ageing and the latest no-surgical skin tightening procedure among several others.

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