Must not turn on the light. Must not turn on the light. It’s a peculiar feeling being woken up by your alarm at 2:30am and resisting the urge to immediately turn on the bedside lamp. Stranger yet, I’ve now got to perform the somewhat unusual nocturnal exercise of scrambling around in the dark for a small plastic receptacle, into which I must release a not insignificant amount of spit. Given that I’ve been asleep the past hour or so, my mouth is hardly the Niagara Falls of saliva. Rounding off the peculiarity of the situation are the two sensors stuck to my body, one near my heart and the other below my ribs, connected by wires to a little plastic box that emits a green light blinking in time with my pulse. And let’s not ignore the bionic-looking plastic clip on my left index finger, with a wire linking to a small noise sensor on my chest.
This could easily sound like the opening scene of some sort of grim post-apocalyptic thriller. But this isn’t the Matrix, nor is it Terminator. I’m not plugged into to some infernal supercomputer sucking out my energy to fuel a robot army. This is night number two of a three-day self-administered medical test set for me by private health consultancy Viavi and we’re checking for… well, frankly I’m too tired to remember what we’re checking for right now.
Based in London’s historical white-coated heartland around Harley Street, Viavi offers its international clients a broad range of services with the aim of giving them ‘full control of their health, often for the first time’. And among its key focus points lies the concept of preventative medicine, the idea of looking closely at what’s going on in your body – and life – today, to see how it might affect your wellbeing in the future.
“For all our clients, we evaluate their health,” says Dr. Sabine Donnai, the founder of Viavi and a leading authority on integrated health management and preventative medicine. “We hand-pick the clinicians that need to be involved for that client and hand-pick the kind of investigations, to really look at their health from absolutely 360 degrees, top down, bottom up. So we get an idea of who they are, what their risks are for the future and how well they are performing now.”
Around 70 per cent of these clients come from outside of the UK, with a heavy Middle East contingent from Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, who Dr. Donnai says are often passing through London (even though Viavi can work remotely). And many are multinational CEOs and high-profile figures, those who may work under intense pressure 24-7 and for whom a standard ‘one-size-fits-all’ health policy might not work.
Viavi’s deep analyses, which can often take around a month, produce a series of statistics, which are analysed to present an educated assessment of potential medical concerns in the future.
“Illness is a cascade of events,” explains Dr. Donnai. “Something happens that triggers some kind of chemical reaction that, say, makes you produce less calcium. But it’s completely preventable if you do something about it now. If we see you’re draining more calcium out of your bones than you should be, then with a supplement you can avoid osteoporosis down the line.”
While it might appear rather Minority Report, this forward-thinking approach to personal healthcare can help prevent a “domino effect” that could lead to a multitude of ailments later in life, even if you feel absolutely fine now.
Which brings us nicely to my own late-night spit and sensor situation. The particular evaluation I’m undergoing is to do with sleep patterns, something Viavi looks into with all of their clients as part of the package. My personal relationship with sleep is rather like that of a student’s to homework: I’d rather not have to do it. My ability to fall asleep is exemplary. Indeed, any bout of sheep counting rarely hits double figures. But I’m generally happy with about five to six hours per night, which I appreciate isn’t the medically prescribed norm.
So the wires, spit and sensors are all colluding in creating a detailed look at the changes to my body - day and night - to see whether my efforts to remain awake are doing me any long-term damage. Apart from this, I’ve also given a blood sample, performed a series of cognitive ability tests and even had a brain scan. Remarkably, the scan picked up the effects of a knock to my chin I suffered at the age of seven. Less remarkably, it also pointed out that my memory isn’t anything to write home about, which is something I could have told you myself, had I not forgotten.
Two weeks later, the results are in. Sleep is, as Dr. Donnai reinterates, “extremely crucial to wellbeing now and to future health”. It’s the time your body recuperates, stores up energy and produces the necessary hormones to see it through the following day and while I’m currently functioning rather nicely, despite only getting to bed at 1am most nights, the graphs show that in keeping me alert and active first thing in the morning, my body is dipping into my limited reserves of cortisol, a vital stress hormone. My shortened snoozes, I’m told, are probably going to make me age quicker. “Going to bed just one hour earlier would make a huge difference,” Dr. Donnai admonishes gently.
In my case, that’s easier said than done. Still, who wants to age prematurely? Let’s just hope there aren’t any good films on TV tonight.
WHO Viavi
WHAT integrated health management and preventative medicine clinic
WHERE Harley Street, London
WHY Because when health is your greatest wealth, it’s best to get advance warning of potential problems before they become a reality.
