Herbal and treatment centre offers new concept

Age-old folk wisdom and modern conventional medicine rarely mix - but UAE residents now have the opportunity to get help from both spheres after the Dubai Herbal and Treatment Centre formally opened yesterday.

The first-of-its-kind clinic unites licensed experts in Indian Ayurveda, ancient Chinese and Arab traditional medicine and allopathic physicians under one roof on its premises in Zabeel.

"This is a totally new concept, a unique approach in healthcare," Dr. Upendra Acharya, medical director of the centre, told reporters yesterday.

One of the centre's main aims is to wean people off chemical dependencies - achieve a smooth changeover to herbal medication - before encouraging lifestyle modifications.

"We are targeting chronic diseases - the backaches, joint pains, obesity, diabetes and other problems that are common to the area," he added.

"Although some of our treatments seem similar to those offered in city spas, our focus is purely therapeutic and disease-oriented and not health-and-fitness oriented."

In the two months since its soft opening, Dr. Acharya and his team - including traditional Chinese medicine specialists Peng Rong Chen, Tang Lixin and Wang Ying, Ayurvedic medicine specialist Dr. Shanthkumar Lucas, Internal Medicine specialist Dr. Motassim Habibullah Al-Hassan, a Manual Lymphatic Drainage expert - have racked up success stories with diabetics and post-stroke patients.

"Once initial treatment is over, we want to teach people everything they need to stay healthy, particularly when faced with modern-day diseases like stress, hypertension and diet-related problems," said Dr. Lucas.

"What we are trying to teach people also is that herbal medicines are not free from side effects," he added.

One immune system-boosting product distributed at the centre, for example, is Enhavol, a Chinese wild mushroom-derivative that has proven effective in combating liver disorders, limiting the damage of neurological afflictions and diabetes, and is now being used to ward off the SARS virus.

Dr. Acharya, a 30-year veteran of the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services, said that alternative medicine is only just starting to be recognised in this country.

Treatments Offered:
* Acupuncture
* Cupping, ear point treatment, acupressure
* Moxibustion
* Ayurveda, including massage and steam baths
* Manual Lymph Drainage and Complex Decongestive Therapy
* Reflexology
* Tachyon Energy Healing
* Herbal medicine

Conditions Treated
* Sinusitis/allergic rhinitis
* Chronic fatigue syndrome
* Constipation, Irritable Bowel Syndrome
* Headaches/Migraine and sleep disorders
* Gynaecological disorders, including infertility
* Liver diseases
* Musculo-skeletal disorders
* Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus
* Obesity
* Paralysis
* Skin disorders
* Sports injuries