A decrease in hormone levels, increasing exposure to environmental toxicity, cellular damage and poor circulation all contribute to the ageing process. This is according to Dr Graham Duncombe at the Renewal Institute. “However, attending to these challenges and assisting the body in dealing with these will create ageing that is far more chronological rather than biological,” says Dr Duncombe.
“To tackle ageing, a holistic approach should be employed: healthy lifestyle, adequate sleep and rest, stress management and skin care. Whatever is showing up on the outside is already happening in a different way on the inside.”
Dr Duncombe has been practicing medicine for the past 23 years since qualifying as a general practitioner at the University of Pretoria in 1995. He spent eighteen years in private practice utilising anti-ageing medicine and has since expanded his field of expertise to aesthetic medicine.
Visualisation of an abstract idea
Dr Duncombe might have obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery, but it is his unique sketching method that helps his clients understand their current state of health and how to manage it.
“Patients develop a better understanding of the underlying causes of the symptoms and realise how their management strategy is designed for them personally. When my patients see me sketching the importance of monitoring improvement and maintaining the results, it has more of an impact.”
Applying arts-based initiatives to health concerns allows the client to explore the perceptions and experiences of their conditions, symptoms, and results.
“Clients find the information more useful and perhaps easier to understand and remember when they see it. This approach allows them to compartmentalise their situation in manageable sections and tackle it sequentially.”
Find out more about Dr Duncombe and the Renewal Institute here.
