PROCEDURE PRACTICE PROFILE
Feel younger, live better Aviv Clinics, The World Leader in Healthy Aging.
I DR. MOHAMMED ELAMIR
t’s no secret how residents of The Villages approach aging. They participate in softball, pickleball, golf, bowling, dancing, and a slew of other activities. Their main concern is not their lifespan, but rather their health span: how many years they remain active and healthy. The Aviv Medical Program offered at Aviv Clinics perfectly complements the active lifestyle that retirees in The Villages desire. The clinic focuses on optimizing their clients’ quality of life in their later years through increased mental and physical performance. “When our company was looking for sites to open our first clinic, we initially thought of big cities like New York,” says Dr. Mohammed Elamir, who operated a primary and internal medicine practice in New Jersey before moving to Florida to join the Aviv Clinics team. “Then we realized The Villages has the biggest concentration of healthy aging individuals and knew this would be an ideal location.” Clients enroll in a three-month program that begins with a thorough evaluation of their cognitive, biological, genetic, and physical functions. Cognitive evaluations test a client’s memory process, while anatomical imaging of the brain allows physicians to see the damage that has occurred throughout life. The physical evaluation measures
body composition, athletic performance, cardiovascular performance, and hand-eye coordination. Metabolic evaluations provide a DNA analysis and help physicians assess dietary and nutritional needs. A molecular evaluation tests the clients’ telomeres, which are the protective caps on the ends of the strands of DNA called chromosomes. They shorten as people age, causing the cell to stop dividing or die. “We take all that evaluation to see how the aging process has unfolded over time and now we have a patient’s baseline,” says Dr. Elamir. “We use that as a way to individualize and fine-tune a client’s treatment program.” With a baseline understanding of the client’s physical and mental composition, the clinical team goes to work creating a bespoke treatment plan for each individual. Clients undergo 60 hyperbaric oxygen treatments (five days a week for 12 weeks) in addition to mental and physical training programs designed by a team of physicians. The human brain requires oxygen to perform its best. However, as people age, their bodies become less efficient at channeling oxygen. During hyperbaric oxygen treatment, the body is flushed with oxygen and stem cells are mobilized. While inside the chamber, Aviv clients undergo brain exercises focusing on working memory, reaction time, and attention to detail. The exercises mobilize blood flow and stem cells to the damaged areas of the brain. “Through our innovative protocol, we increase the amount of stem cells to help