Mike Frayne is the CEO of Aviv Clinics Dubai which treats the aging process and improves brain performance. It is supported by Aviv Scientific, a global leader in the healthy aging and longevity sector. The company is rolling out a worldwide network of medical centers and Aviv-Clinics Dubai is the first in the MENA region.
Aviv claims to apply data science and AI that leverages the best of medical science and technology to treat age-related cognitive and functional decline.
The clinic’s medical program helps aging C-suite executives to get back to their top performance by helping them regain their memory, attention, focus and sharpness.
In an interview, Frayne tells TRENDS that Aviv Medical Program is the first of its kind and the only brain performance treatment in the world.
“Aviv’s treatment can help anyone who wants to regain or enhance their peak performance in mind and body – and maintain it for longer,” Frayne says.
Excerpts from the interview:
- How is Aviv Clinics in the UAE different from other medical facilities?
Aviv Clinics Dubai is a specialty clinic that focuses on improving brain and body performance. As part of the natural aging process, our bodies go through decline that affect cognitive functions such as memory, attention and decision making; and physical functions such as energy levels, stamina, and sleep quality. Aviv’s unique medical program can reverse this decline. For a CEO or C-suite executive, this means that they can be at the top of their game for longer. The big news Aviv brings to the market is that there is a new way to experience the aging process and no one has to accept the cognitive and physical decline associated with it.
Aviv’s cutting-edge medical program is based on a research-backed protocol that has been tested over the last 15 years. The protocol uses Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) at its core combined with personalized cognitive training, physical exercises, and nutritional coaching. The Aviv Medical Program is the first of its kind and the only brain performance treatment in the world.
In line with the UAE’s recently announced shift in its healthcare strategy to focus on longevity and healthy aging, Aviv has set the benchmark for enhancing brain performance and healthy aging. Aviv’s treatment can help anyone who wants to regain or enhance their peak performance in mind and body – and maintain it for longer.
- C-suite executives have a pretty stressful lifestyle; Is this region any different. What are the major issues that have come to light pertaining to senior professionals?
The UAE is a global business hub that brings people of different age groups, lifestyles, nationalities, and experiences together. Just like in other markets, the business space is highly competitive and demanding in the Middle East. C-suite executives across the region experience high levels of stress yet they are required to perform highly.
If you are talking about high-performing managers, who are aiming to develop their careers – what can actually hold them back? When they are too young their less experience and adequate knowledge of their field may be their bottleneck; however, as their experience and knowledge grow, they start to age and may feel less sharp and energetic. When they are nearing their 50s their natural aging process becomes their bottleneck.
What happens during the aging process is that our bodies become less efficient at channeling oxygen, which is why our mental and physical performance decreases over time.
With the help of Aviv’s medical program C-suite, executives can open this bottleneck by treating their brain to achieve better connectivity and functionality which results in stronger mental ability, improved memory, attention, focus and sharpness, faster information processing speed (how quickly we complete mental tasks) and better executive functions which are the set of complex mental skills that allow us to be flexible, make decisions, and exercise self-control.
Aviv’s medical program is a lifetime opportunity for leaders and managers to focus on their individual well-being and take themselves to the next level in terms of mental and physical performance, improved managerial capabilities and a better quality of life. Executives who come into the program as a cohort, also reflect on improved team relationships and trust forming while doing the program together.
- The average age of CEOs is 45+ years. What are the challenges and what are the solutions provided by Aviv Clinics?
Toward their 50s most people start feeling some degeneration in cognitive and physical abilities. They feel less energetic, less sharp and it becoming harder to make hard decisions – they just start to feel that they are not at their peak anymore. For those who need to keep the pace, like C-suites and CEOs, it may be more challenging as they need to perform at peak levels at all times. The decline in attention level or sleep disturbances damage the executive skills which are so important for leaders as they need to think fast, be sharp and see things clearly in order to lead their companies and teams to the next succusses.
Aviv Medical Program starts with a comprehensive set of assessments which evaluate exactly where you are in terms of your performance. We assess all your cognitive domains against the benchmark and know where you are and how can you improve. In addition, we check how your body consumes oxygen, the levels of your power and energy. We look at your full health picture and create a personal improvement plan that can take you to your peak. We understand it is part of your competitive edge.
The Aviv Medical Program offers holistic and comprehensive care to clients perfectly tailored to their needs. The core of the program is the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) followed by a dedicated consultation and training period that includes physical therapy, physiotherapy, neuropsychology, and nutrition coaching. At the end of the 12-week treatment cycle, and following post-treatment assessments, patients get a detailed report of all their findings. This shows how your performance has improved since undergoing the treatment. At Aviv, we use the world’s most scientifically advanced medical technology to maximize the benefits and effects of our treatment program.
- Healthy aging and longevity have been recently gaining attention. Why do we need to continue awareness about these topics, and what are the dangers of not having the right conversation?
Despite the growing number of Alzheimer’s and dementia cases in the Middle East, there is not much awareness about the diseases, their treatment protocol and lifestyle habits that change as a result of age-related disorders. Not talking about such life-changing illnesses and how it impacts family dynamics and imposes an economic burden on countries will not shed light on a possible solution, keeping the subject and any effects away from the public consciousness. Patients who are suffering will continue to suffer in silence and caregivers will continue feeling confused about how to manage their sick, elderly family members.
On a positive note, society is starting to recognize that our senior population carry vast experience, knowledge and wisdom that make invaluable contributions to the world’s continued social and economic development. With growing investments in the healthy aging sector, we now can take control over the aging process and reverse some of the physical and cognitive declines that typically occur around the age of 50. Therefore, we encourage the population to invest in their most valuable asset – their health – and to increase their physical and mental vitality, work for longer, perform at their best and keep contributing to society with their vast experience instead of becoming a liability on society or their country.
- Could you touch upon some ground-breaking treatments available at Aviv Clinics for cognitive conditions including Alzheimer’s, Dementia, etc., making a meaningful difference in people’s lives?
Aviv Clinics’ Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a form of oxygen therapy that involves administering 100 percent pure oxygen to a patient in a pressurized environment. HBOT has been used for decades to treat other conditions, such as non-healing ischemic wounds, but for the first time, it also has shown promise as a potential treatment for reversing the main activators and early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and treating cognitive problems. A landmark study that is part of an ongoing program, researching age-related cognitive decline has been conducted by the Sagol School of Neuroscience in Tel Aviv and Tel Aviv University. For the first time, the study has proven that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) – a non-pharmaceutical method – is effective in reversing the main activators and early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
There are two key reasons why Aviv Clinics’ HBOT therapy is unique. First, we increase the oxygen level you breathe through a mask in the HBOT suite. As you breathe it in, your bloodstream sends this oxygen to tissue in your body that has been deprived of it. Oxygen-saturated blood can bypass blood vessels that have become clogged or narrowed with age. This gives the brain the energy it needs to turbocharge the healing process.
Second, we fluctuate the level of oxygen you breathe when inside the HBOT suite. This variation in oxygen supply triggers your body’s own regenerative mechanisms. Stem cells begin to proliferate, and new blood vessels are created – the two basic processes required for rejuvenating existing tissue and regenerating new tissue.
- Please elaborate on how Aviv Clinics is leveraging new, smart technology pieces to prevent certain forms of cognitive decline?
Aviv Clinics’ unique treatment protocol with a multidisciplinary approach covers our clients’ lives for the full duration of the program. The combination of the Hyperbaric oxygen with the cognitive training program, the physical training and 24 hours monitoring (via smartwatch) of activity levels, steps, sleep and stress, combined with our dietary recommendations, create a powerful platform for cognitive and physical improvement.
Aviv uses the latest cutting-edge technology to deliver a comprehensive medical assessment which includes the most advanced brain imaging protocols that use a patented algorithm for brain analysis and is unparalleled globally, Telomere analysis (part of our DNA used to calculate the patients’ true biological age), Genetic sequencing (genetic profile of the patient), and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy technology (HBOT). In addition, we follow our own unique, research-backed, and patented approach in delivering HBOT as part of our treatment program. Additionally, we use the most advanced Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) to measure the heart and lung performance and how the body produces energy with and without oxygen.
While being in the oxygen chambers and breathing 100 percent across the period of the program, the body actually entered a momentum of improvement. Being in a receptive mode – Aviv’s comprehensive program has the potential to get the best results across all the domains and push the client to her peak.
- Please tell us about Aviv Clinics goals for the near future.
Our ongoing aim is to collaborate in research and education to offer the most advanced and well-studied treatments to some of the most challenging diseases. Some of these illnesses include, but are not limited to, Dementia, Traumatic Brain Injuries, long covid syndrome, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Fibromyalgia and Lyme disease. But our big vision is to change the way people will experience the aging process. We know the decline related to aging doesn’t need to be taken for granted anymore. There is a new and better way to age. From our point of view, people who are getting to their 50s can be only at the start of their amazing careers and achievements – this is their primetime.