A healthcare practice aims not just to help people deal with medical problems, but give them the tools to prevent them happening in the first place.

Bermuda Wellness and Outreach Centre was set up to specialise in areas where traditional general practitioners cannot.

And now, with a year in business under their belt, BWOC offers a range of services like an antigravity treadmill and a spinal decompression machine to treat back and neck pain that are unique on the Island.

The practice also features a hi-tech infra red sauna, which can be used for detoxification and weight loss, while it can also reduce blood pressure, relieve pain and speed up wound healing.

The team at the practice, set up on Hamilton’s Gorham Road by Hope Healthcare medical practice’s Brent Williams and his wife Robin, a public health educator, offer a range of treatments, as well as healthy living and diet advice and programmes.

Leonard Gibbons, who has a doctorate in preventive care, said: “When we address habits of eating, exercise and sleeping, we see significant improvements.

“It’s about helping patients to make the sort of choices that can bring about long term improvements in their health.”

The firm is to celebrate its year in business with an open day tomorrow from 9am to 7pm, with a special feature event starting at 5pm including money-off offers, prizes and entertainment.

Caren Griffith-Fadlin, a medical practitioner, said: “Dr Williams, as a physician, found managing patients with chronic disease — high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol — a lot of times their medication doses went up and up and they weren’t getting good control of their weight.

“BWOC was born out of a desire to have wellness services to help them reduce and even stop taking medicine for some of the chronic diseases they suffer from.”

Dr Griffith-Fadlin added: “We are surrounded by an environment where there are lots of unhealthy food choices. People find it difficult to make healthful choices and there needs to be an environment where we can help people make that change easier.”

She added she worked across BWOC and as a GP at Hope Healthcare.

She added that preventive medicine helped cut disease rates, while the correct treatments could help those with existing conditions to healthier lives.

“We have patients who have established medical conditions and, if they need medicine, we give it to them and tell them to get more exercise. Unfortunately, we can’t help people do that in the confines of a medical practice. Here at BWOC we can do that.

“When we put the two together, they work synergistically so they need less medication and as they lose weight, they also don’t need as much medication. It all works together.”

Dr Gibbons said the Alter G treadmill, designed by a scientist from the US space agency Nasa, could effectively reduce the weight of a user to 20 per cent of their actual body weight, making it easier for them to exercise and able to keep going for longer periods.

He explained: “People with knee joint conditions, people who have had strokes, they can feel very comfortable and get some progress.”

The treadmill can also help people looking to lose weight or with rehabilitation after injuries because the antigravity mechanism takes the strain off joints.

Dr Gibbons said that people who needed to make life changes to improve their health needed four things — accurate information, motivation, skills to prepare the proper food and exercise regimes and a supportive environment.

Dr Griffith-Fadlin added: “A lot of people want to change, but they don’t know how to change and we can help with that.”

Dr Gibbons said that four out of ten Bermudians have high blood pressure, three out ten have high cholesterol levels and seven out of ten are overweight and one in eight has diabetes.

He added that Bermuda ranked second for these problems behind the US in a survey of 30 countries.

And he said: “We’re starting a 12-week to wellness programme — it’s a whole lifestyle approach to address hypertension, heart disease and diabetes.

“At present, we’re sending people away overseas at huge expense to treat them problems that can be avoided with the right lifestyle.”