Vala Health launches Epigenetics focused wellbeing support system
LONDON: Vala Health, the UK-based telemedicine platform that focuses on the causes of physical and mental ill-health, has announced the launch of a brand new DNA focused product that aims to bring primary care into an entirely new arena. Using cutting edge DNA and Epigenetics screening techniques with their lab-partner, their App offers members and doctors of the service a unique glimpse into over 400 genetic markers that could be affecting long and short-term health goals and conditions. Whilst DNA screening is not a new thing, Vala is the first company to bring it closer to the proposition of everyday primary care treatment.
CEO of Vala, Pete Trainor, said “2020 saw huge growth and unprecedented traffic through Vala, and it might have been easy to rest on our laurels and capitalise on the pandemic to continue to provide just our high-quality care services. But our obsession with really helping people to manage the salutogenic causes of physical and mental ill-health doesn’t rest, and we’d always wanted to add DNA into our suite of tools.”
According to HSE (the U.K health and safety executive), the cost estimates from 2018/19 of work-related ill health was £16.2 billion. Physical and mental ill-health causes the most significant proportion of total costs, around 66% (£10.6 billion). Couple that with the pandemic, and we have a huge problem. Vala hopes to significantly reduce that number by getting upstream of common illnesses and help people make 100s of small micro-adjustments to their lifestyle to help them ‘stay well’ rather than wait to get sick.
“It’s not enough that people can go and speak to their private clinician or their NHS doctor when they feel unwell; that doesn’t help in the long-run, it’s far more economically sensible to help people stay well and stop them getting sick”, added Trainor. “We’re blessed to have a team of the best clinicians in the world on demand for people who need our support, but it’s also time we started to use innovative sources of data much more wisely to make a wholesale, public-health change.”
As well as giving people who use the test and App a glimpse into their deficiencies, abnormalities and areas of their diet and life that can be improved, Vala also took the controversial step of including an algorithm that crunches location and biomarkers to offer people a ‘virus risk score’ to give people some insight into how they might cope with Covid or a future coronavirus type disease. “It’s not a substitute for seeking professional care from one of the team; it’s just a way of giving people some insight into what they might expect. Of course, the best way to fight Covid is to get the Vaccine, but for now, our bio-scoring, coupled with government guidance, could be a good safeguard.”
Finally, Vala has decided not to give people information about any hereditary health complications. “If the goal is keeping people well, why give them back potentially stressful information? We believe that empowerment comes from giving people control, not taking it away.”
