MW native in short doc on DNA-based practice

Aug. 30—MINERAL WELLS — An app sent this way keeps the pain doc away, thanks to a Mineral Wells native recently featured for medical ingenuity on a recurring series on PBS.

Dr. Surya Singh, a 1993 Ram grad and son of longtime Mineral Wells family doctor Lake Singh and Powan Singh, is today a Boston physician concerned about limiting pain as we age.

As CEO of gWell Inc., he and his team are the subject of a segment on Viewpoints with Dennis Quaid, which produces six- to eight-minute stories also seen on Youtube.

The short educational film, titled "Future of Health Care — Leading Innovation in Personalized Healthcare," outlines the DNA-based protocol Singh and the team pioneered.

"(We) use your DNA to identify very simple things you can do to help you live a longer, better procedure-free life," Dr. Singh said by phone.

Under the protocol, patients spit in a receptacle mailed from Boston and receive in return an application designed solely for them based on their genetics — hence, the "g" in gWell.

"That helps people understand what they are at risk for, so they can make lifestyle choices to avoid things that cause pain and injuries and disabilities," he said. "Having people do things to strengthen their bones is something we focus on."

The app also guides patients in preventing muscle tears and painful joints that creep up on seniors. Contact with the Boston physicians is online, and the eWell team is ready to consult with a patient's doctor or physical therapist with the patient's OK, Singh said.

"All this is new stuff to help people live healthier and hopefully happier." he said.

To register with gWell, go to gwellhealth.com/spit

With his 30-year Ram reunion around the bend, Singh said if they build one he probably will come. His family remains in the area, he said.

"Actually, some of my buddies, I'm still in touch with them," he said. "I probably will (come)."

Singh has kept up with his hometown and knew about the renewed commercial activity downtown and ongoing renovations at the shuttered Baker Hotel & Spa.

"I'm super happy to hear they've been able to revitalize it," he said of the hotel. "There were lots of fits and starts when I was growing up there. My senior prom was at the Baker."

The doctor said his father is 80 now and living in North Richland Hills. Dr. Lake Singh cared for families in Mineral Wells for four decades followed by eight or 10 years in Weatherford.

And the Boston resident knows it's been a record hot summer in his home because his dad tells him.

"He's, like, 'It's brutal to go outside now,' " he quoted his dad..

The younger Singh and his wife of 16 years, Melissa, are the parents of three boys. He recalled his own boyhood in Mineral Wells, chowing down at Passeo and Pulido's.

"I've gone through phases in Mineral Wells — of course, there's Woody's," he said. "You know? (The city) is never far from my mind. Part of my heart is is there."