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GluCare Rebrands To Metabolic, Dropping Diabetes-Only Identity
The Dubai health player is widening its scope and setting sights on UK and US expansion.
Dubai-based Metabolic has rebranded from its former moniker of GluCare.Health, stepping beyond its roots as a diabetes-focused clinic to position itself as a broader metabolic health platform.
Launched in 2020 by Ali Hashemi, Dr. Ihsan Almarzooqi and Zeina Abdalla, the company says the name change reflects how its clinical model has widened over five years in the UAE. Instead of centering solely on glucose control, it now targets metabolic syndrome as a web of linked risks — from obesity and cardiovascular disease to fatty liver disease, PCOS and chronic kidney disease.
The core product is what the company calls “Metabolic OS,” a hybrid care operating system that connects diagnostics, continuous remote monitoring and AI-driven decision support inside a clinician-led model. The pitch centers on delivering fewer disconnected tests, and more coordinated oversight between visits.
“Over five years we’ve built what we wish the healthcare system had from day one: an operating system for metabolic risk,” said Ali Hashemi, CEO and co-founder. “Not a collection of apps, devices, and disconnected tests, but an integrated model where data becomes signal, signal becomes action, and action translates into outcomes. AI is most powerful when it supports great clinicians and helps patients stay engaged between visits. That’s the DNA of Metabolic OS”.
The shift comes as the Middle Eastern health sector grapples with some of the highest diabetes and obesity rates globally. In the UAE, many people with type 2 diabetes remain uncontrolled, while the same underlying drivers spill into heart disease and endocrine disorders.
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“[Those] metabolic drivers are fueling obesity, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, and hormonal disorders,” said Dr. Ihsan Almarzooqi, managing director and co-founder. “The clinical need is clear: earlier detection, better risk stratification, and longitudinal support. The technology now exists to do this well, but only if it’s integrated into a coordinated care model. That’s what we’ve built”.
Metabolic’s services now span endocrinology, cardiology, obesity management, sleep-related metabolic disorders and hormone care for men and women. Preventive health and executive risk assessments are part of the mix.
The company cites 2025 real-world publications showing HbA1c reductions of up to 2.3 percentage points, around 10% weight loss within three months, and improvements in triglycerides and blood pressure. It also reported stronger muscle preservation among patients using GLP-1 therapies.
GluCare.Health will remain as the group’s research and evidence arm.
News
Meta’s New AI Tool Builds Images From Public Instagram Photos
Muse Image lets anyone generate AI visuals from your public posts, unless you find the opt-out that’s buried in your account settings.
Meta has a new AI image generator, and it comes with a feature that has privacy advocates alarmed. Muse Image, launched Tuesday by the company’s Superintelligence Labs division, lets users generate AI images by @ mentioning any public Instagram account — pulling that person’s photos into the creation without their knowledge.
The tool is available through the Meta AI app, WhatsApp, and Instagram Stories. Meta says it “uses advanced reasoning to understand complex prompts, seamlessly blending multiple photos into high-quality creations you can download and share anywhere”. The tagging is the flashpoint: “Tagging a username lets Meta AI use public photos to build a visual that’s ready to post,” the company says. Every public Instagram profile can be used unless its owner has explicitly opted out.
That default has drawn sharp criticism. Public Citizen, the consumer advocacy nonprofit, called the feature “an egregious invasion of user privacy”. “Meta has once again chosen the creepiest possible path,” said J.B. Branch, the group’s director of federal AI governance and technology policy. “People should not wake up to discover their face has become raw material for someone else’s AI experiment”. “Instead of asking for meaningful consent, Meta quietly defaults users into the system and buries the opt-out in account settings,” Branch added. “It’s a playbook we’ve come to expect from a company with a long history of putting its business interests ahead of the public”.
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Despite the concerns, it’s worth noting that private accounts are already protected. Muse Image requires access to public photos, and anyone trying to tag a private profile will be told the account can’t be used. Public accounts, on the other hand, must opt out manually. To do that, users will need to go to their profile, tap the menu in the top-right corner, then Sharing and Reuse. Under “Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and with AI features at Meta,” you’ll find separate toggles for Posts and Reels — switch both off to keep your images and videos out of other people’s AI creations.
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