When it comes to medicine, one size does not fit all. Treatments and prevention strategies designed to help some patients might not help you.
Yet physicians usually recommend medical interventions based on what works best for patients on average. As a result, many patients who fall outside of this “average” might not receive the best care possible.
Personalized medicine is an emerging practice of medicine that uses an individual's genetic profile to guide decisions made in regard to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.
In contrast, personalized medicine is an evolving field in which physicians use diagnostic tests to determine which medical treatments will work best for you. By combining data from these tests with your unique medical history, circumstances, and values, healthcare providers can develop targeted treatment and prevention plans designed specifically for you.
With personalized medicine, we are entering a new era in the history of health care. Advanced computing techniques, more efficient genomic sequencing tests, and new diagnostic technologies that can detect telltale changes in the chemistry of your body are giving physicians an unprecedented ability to tailor health care to the unique biological and environmental factors impacting your health and well-being. In addition, telemedicine-based healthcare strategies and at-home diagnostics are providing new opportunities to bring the right intervention to the right patient at the right time. Equipped with these groundbreaking new tools, your healthcare team can respond to your specific needs and wishes.
More Than a Number explores the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies underpinning personalized medicine across a wide variety of diseases. We invite you to join this exciting new era of health care.
Edward Abrahams is President of the Personalized Medicine Coalition.
