Hello and a blessed day to all!

I am Alia Mohamad, a certified medical practitioner currently based at Klinik Famili Leiya, Sepang. Together with Hassan Basri, my lifelong companion and business partner, we co-founded Leiya Wellness, a holistic health and wellness centre.

How did we come up with the idea of creating Leiya Wellness? Since we started practicing medicine for nearly 2 decades, we have encountered many types of diet and lifestyle related illnesses affecting our patients. We realized that all these while, our focus has always been on responding to the patients’ symptoms after they become ill as compared to preventing those preventable illnesses. Various types of chronic diseases and obesity crisis have been alarmingly raging the human populationin the 21st century. Where does this lead us? Most critically, this will significantly increase healthcare expenses and unsustainable healthcare costs which will not benefit anyone for that matter. We at Leiya Wellness believe that we are able to guide, advocate and keep people healthy by shifting our focus to prevention and wellness which will positively affect the quality of life of our clients. Prevention of complications of illnesses and avoiding lengthy hospital stays can be accomplished.

Accordingly, our beliefs and principles with regards to health issues have always been formed on fact-based evidence and research. Over the years, we have realized that there are much more to untangle about human bodies rather than thinking that the human body will gradually become weaker as we age. We truly believe that every individual, regardless of age, is totally capable of staying in a good shape by practising healthy habits early on in life. To us, “age is just a number”. Therefore, our aimis to share with not just our audience, but also the public about the importance of prevention of illnesses and enhancement of health and wellness through the establishment of LeiyaWellness. Hassan and I are extremely blessed that we did not walk on this voyage on our own. As we take up on a new challenge in business, we have encountered countless individuals whose characters and personalities have remarkably contributed to our growth and that includes our dearest sister, Samirah. Holding similar views about health, she has joined us on a mission to help people enhance their wellbeing by first putting their health as the top priority. An ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure is a motto that we live by at LeiyaWellness.

Illnesses know no one. Everyone has a possibility of struggling with medical issues if they are not concerned about their overall lifestyle and despite being a doctor, I was no exception. I have had my fair share of health struggles prior to setting up LeiyaWellness. It was not too long after the birth of my second child that I had my world knocked down after learning about my diagnosis with womb cancer, also known as endometrial cancer, from my personal gynaecologist. Worse, the endometrial cancer in which I was identified was not of the typical type so I had to get myself referred to a consultant gynaecological oncologist. I was informed that I would have to undergo a radical hysterectomy since my cancer was found to be of the aggressive type according to the cervical cancer screening result. To explain, hysterectomy is a compulsory treatment for womb cancer patients where it involves the surgical womb removal. However, he will first need to perform a much more invasive procedure, which is a removal of a big chunk of the cervix prior to the surgical procedure in order to know the stage of my cancer (biopsy). I was provided with two options; (1) the removal of the uterus alone, or (2) the removal of the uterus, ovaries, and some parts of the omentum. Regardless, having the large part of my cervix removed from my body would make it difficult for me to carry future pregnancies due to the awaiting high risks.

After weighing the options, my husband and I decided that we will proceed with the treatment no matter what. We have been blessed with a pair of children and our family is complete.Truthfully, it was not an easy decision to make but we knew it was all for the best. I was lucky that I was surrounded by supportive and encouraging family members and friends throughout my battle with cancer. My mother, especially, has been there for me at every step of the whole journey. Being a positive and strong-willed person that she is, my mother refused to let me dwell in self-pity and gave in to the fatal circumstances without making the most out of everything to recover. She encouraged me to search for other cure alternatives, both spiritual and traditional-wise instead of only relying on the modern treatment. Not giving up, I tried to do everything I could within my best capabilities within that one month prior to getting my cancer staging. The day finally came where I was admitted to the hospital to undergo the long-awaited biopsy analysis. I have always believed in the power of the Divine that is forever unrivalled with humans who are bound with limitations.

Indeed, God is the most Merciful and Forgiving; I was miraculously announced as cancer-free in my next medical appointment as my biopsy analysis showed no traces of cancer. It was extremely shocking to everyone, especially my oncologist, about how the cancer cells just completely vanished in a blink of an eye. He could not bring himself to explain how such a thing was possible when I had yet to undergo the medical procedures for my womb cancer at the time. It was such a miracle that I managed to survive a possible death from womb cancer. Yes, it was indeed a miracle; To say that I was grateful is an understatement. I was granted a second chance at life where I get to be here alongside my beloved husband and children today. I believe this could not have happened without all the support, prayers, and best wishes from the kind-hearted souls around me. Apart from just pure luck, I am also convinced that those unconventional alternatives I did before played a very major part in my cancer recovery. Medicine has especially advanced so much compared to the ancient days and medical experts have been coming up with succeeding research backed alternatives to illnesses as the world progresses.

As suggested by my mother earlier, I opted to try an alternative route where I incorporated some recommended plant-based supplements for cancer treatment followed by health supplements in my daily food consumption. I have always believed in the significance of spirituality and put my total reliance on God into every aspect in my life. On that account, I started implementing the elements of gratefulness and mindfulness along with deep breathing techniques in my daily routine. I made sure that I had enough hours of sleep. Moreover, I tried to keep a positive mind and practise acceptance for life challenges faced so that I would be able to feel at ease with everything. Despite still being physically weak, I could feel that I was getting much more resilient spiritually by staying positive throughout it all. I also started adopting a healthy lifestyle where I took great concern in my dietary intake. As time passed by, I had come to understand how my body works and that I should feed my body with enough nutrients by eating a balanced diet, doing regular workouts, making fasting a routine, and keeping a positive mind.

With that, I managed to completely heal from cancer by taking control of my health and keeping my body well nourished. I managed to live a healthy and prosperous life post-cancer but things started to go bad again with the opening of my first medical centre, Klinik Famili Leiya in 2015. As we had just started operating, we were lacking in many aspects especially in human resources. We did not have enough budget to employ adequate amount of people to assist in managing the clinic so we had no choice but to do it all on our own. Consequently, I spent most of my time working at the clinic all day long, from morning until midnight every day. To top it all, I still had to make sure my children are well taken care of back at home after a long day at work. With how chaotic it was at the time, eight hours of sleep were absolutely a luxury. I did not manage to get enough sleep and rest due to an immense amount of work followed by my responsibility as a homemaker back at home. I gradually cared less about what goes into my diet and no longer practised the active lifestyle like I used to before. For that reason, my health began to decline down the charts again.

Consequently, I started struggling with multiple health issues as a result of my unhealthy habits and lifestyle. As a start, I was diagnosed with gastritis followed by a terrible headache which required me to take painkillers just so I could go on with the rest of my day. My poor food consumption brought my cholesterol level up high to a total of 7.7, which then resulted in weight gain and immense bloating. My health was literally at one of its lowest as I started to develop health problems that I had never dealt with before. I was poorly affected by eczema, chronic acid reflux, hypothyroidism, along with other hormonal issues. At that moment, I thought getting prescriptions from hospitals would immediately resolve all my health issues but I was proven otherwise. Personally, I noticed that taking medications did not result in a total recovery in the long run other than temporary results. I would have to continuously take my prescribed medications if I wanted to feel better and things would go back to square one if I ever stopped. I realized the prescribed drugs noticeably worsened my health conditions with every consumption and I would have to continuously take them in order for me to get better.

As a matter of fact, my struggles with health issues are not something unusual in today’s society, where everyone has the likelihood to get diagnosed with one. There are underlying root causes behind each of our health problems stemming from our lifestyle and habits; stress, negative emotions, unhealthy diet, toxins, inactivity, poor sleep and trauma. We are able to heal both internally and physically if we identify the problems from their fundamental roots effectively. However, some causes are extremely deep-rooted, leading to the requirement of specific measures in handling them. As a continuation to my healing journey, I was reluctant to be dependent on medications, hence, I decided to turn my life around by significantly changing mylifestyle. I began enhancing my knowledge by doing in-depth readings about health in order to know the next step I should take in improving my well-being. Consequently, I happened to come across epigenetics testing which has played a major part in my healing journey. Epigenetics is defined as the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). As stated by Alegria-Torres et al. (2011), epigenetic genes are reversible and changeable in response to environmental factors such as stress, negative emotions, unhealthy diet, toxins, inactivity, poor sleep, and deep trauma. These factors are in correspondence to the root causes behind most health problems. Therefore, one has to know which root cause they have to effectively address in order to fully recover and maintain their health for a long time.

For that reason, I was motivated to undergo epigenetic testing as I wanted to learn about the actual factors which led to my health issues. Epigenetic tests were the biggest game-changer in my health journey as I was able to start fresh again by firstly identifying the triggers and learning about the ways to manage them. After learning about the causes, I managed to improve my health gradually through integrating healthy routines and staying agile every day. I eventually became aware of the fact that it is compulsory to fix the problems at roots in order to thoroughly heal and prevent any relapse in the future. Through the application of scientifically and medically proven methods, Leiya Wellness is here to assist people in taking care of their health and maintaining their well-being for the longest time. We uphold the concept of youthfulness where everyone is capable of staying young and energetic regardless of what age they are of. Here at Leiya Wellness, we offer diverse wellness programs for our clients to choose from according to their personal wants and needs. Worry not, they will be put under close care and receive guidance from certified medical professionals throughout every session in each program. As demonstrated by our tagline – “heal to inspire,” Leiya Wellness aspires to help people unlock their fullest potential, be the best version of themselves, and inspire other individuals to strive for the greatest health