Age-Defying Clinic Opens in Kenya

Claudia Villate, a physician opted to shift from traditional treatment and embraced an age-defying programme 18 years ago after struggling with diabetes during pregnancy.

“As a doctor, I realised that the advice I was giving to my patients was not working for me. At 38, I was battling weight issues, high cholesterol levels and diabetes,” explains Claudia.

“My energy levels were low and my libido had hit rock-bottom, which was threatening to rock my marriage boat.”

Showing off her youthful physique, Claudia, now 56, says she used hormones, diet and tailored exercises to forestall the aftermath of ageing.

She is now a chief medical officer of Cenegenics Global, an age management company that aspires to make its Kenyan clients “look and feel years younger, and delay the onset of ageing-associated diseases.”

Cenegenics, a privately held company based in Las Vegas, US, has set up a clinic in Nairobi, aiming to offer the new-age management medicine to the well-to-do who want to grow old with “dignity.”

“There are two options; one can choose to grow old with vitality or get old with disease. It is a preventive measure as we believe preventing is cheaper than fixing,” explains Mario Garcìa Muxò, president, Cenegenics Global in an interview at the Gigiri clinic.

Claudia and Mario have partnered with Ally Manji and Dr Pranav Pancholi, both Kenyans.

Dr Pancholi, a cosmetic dermatosurgeon who runs Avane Clinic at Nairobi’s Yaya Centre, says he has been doing Botox, dermal fillers, body contouring procedures to G-Spot enhancement on his clients who get excited about their physical appearance but still need something that can rejuvenate their inside.

“The women looked beautiful physically but still complained of low energy levels. This realisation meant that there was a gap that needed to be filled to achieve optimal health,” explains Dr Pancholi.

This may seem like an overly bold intervention, but some Kenyans already travel abroad for the ‘age-defying treatment.’

“We want to burst the myth that one should start feeling a certain way once they reach a certain age. You need not start feeling old because you’ve hit 40, 50 or 60. Science has proven that with the right nutrition, right balance of hormones, and exercise, you can slow the ageing process,” explains Mario.

“When I started the age management programme, at 49, my energy levels had started dwindling, which came with low desire,” confesses Mario, who is turns 60. Ordinarily, the remedy for low libido is enhancement drugs, but he says he no longer needs them.

“As we age, our bodies degenerate but with age management medicine, it helps the body to rejuvenate itself. For women, the inner walls of the vagina thin with age and intercourse can be painful. The regime helps to thicken the walls as it replaces the hormones that are depleted with age,” explains Claudia.

Incidentally, the experts says, it takes men a shorter time, about 30 days into the programme to experience change while women could take anything from 60 to 90 days.

The programme is personalised based on an individual’s blood test, family history and any diseases they might be predisposed to. It targets 35 to 65 year-olds.

“To enrol for the programme, one begins with a consultation at the clinic which involves a seven-hour evaluation charged at Sh300,000 ($3,000),” explains Ally.

They do blood, neuro-cognitive, bone density tests and an advanced body composition.

Based on the lab results, the medics are able to tailor-make a programme that suits the nutrients the body is lacking or any preventive measures for predisposed diseases or remedies for the natural wear and tear of body cells due to the ageing process, he says.

In cases where a client has to be put on supplements on hormone therapies, the treatment costs Sh25,000 to Sh30,000, with blood works done every three months.

Studies have shown that low hormones contribute to a loss of lean muscle mass, bone density, energy and libido, thereby making older men and women more susceptible to heart disease, diabetes, sexual dysfunction and osteoporosis. However, research also shows excess testosterone and oestrogen may fuel cancer.

The Cenegenics doctors say these effects are not there because the dosages are monitored and they use almost close to human-like hormones.

“The hormones are composed of bioidentical hormones, which are man-made hormones that are very similar to the hormones produced by the human body. As they are close to nature, they rarely cause any side effects,” says Claudia.