Image: The SHA clinic will host the programmes from January 2013

SHA Wellness Clinic near Alicante, Spain, is to launch the SHA Anti-Ageing Programme, which will include charting guests' genetic ageing levels with telomere analysis and then creating a personalised treatment plan.

Launching in January 2013, the seven-day programmes are priced at 7,000 euro (£5,600, US$8,800) per person and will see telomere analysis followed by a medical team advising patients on lifestyle changes.

The changes are recommended in order to reduce the signs and effects of ageing and increase their life expectancy. In addition to the telomere analysis, the programme will also include a number of other medical assessments.

These include the determination of the guest's genome key and a sleep study, a spirometry and carboxyhaemoglobin study, musculoskeletal and postural evaluation with a physiotherapist, an electro-cardiogram and a skin screening (dermis study).

Treatments during the week-long programme will include acupuncture, lymphatic drainage, hydro-colon therapy, aromatherapy and bespoke therapy sessions based on the guest's individual needs - such as wraps, shiatsu, reiki and deep tissue massage.

The programme also includes a range of consultation and advice sessions – such as a consultation of cosmetic medicine and facial protective cellular DNA mesotherapy and a session with a nutrition and natural therapies expert.

The introduction of the anti-ageing programme is the latest example of spas and wellness centres looking to benefit from advances made in the study of telomeres.

Telomeres are located at each end of chromosomes and protects them from deterioration or from fusion with neighbouring chromosomes. A study into how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for 2009.

For more information about the Nobel Prize-winning study, click here .

• At the recent GSWS event in Aspen, Colorado, Dr Elissa Epel, associate professor at the University of California highlighted the importance of telomeres to the spa industry as an important marker of age-related disease risk. For more details, see Spa Business 2012 Issue 3 (p.56-57)

• In 2008, King's College London used the analysis of telomeres in a study that showed that people who exercise more in their free time appear to be biologically younger than their more sedentary counterparts.