Precision medicine is a unique customized approach to preventive and acute healthcare. It tailors the ongoing care of a patient to their specific needs, including their current health status and risk factors.
This type of medicine differs from the traditional approach, which treats all patients according to the same protocol. Precision medicine takes an individualized approach, which may lead to improved outcomes and faster recovery by ensuring the right treatment choices are made.
Precision medicine is an approach to treatment and prevention that provides customized care for patients based on their current disease or risk status, whether it's genetic or environmental.
This means that medical services and interventions are chosen in a way that aligns with the anticipated course of the patient's condition based on their risk and current health factors. Medical services include follow-up care, chronic care, testing, screening, and procedures.
The History of Precision Medicine
Precision medicine is a relatively new field that has seen significant progress due to recent scientific advances. One notable event in the field's history was the 2015 All of Us precision medicine initiative instituted by Barack Obama during his presidency.
This program collects longitudinal data over a period of more than 10 years, including genetic sequencing, medical records, personal reported data, and more. It utilizes this data to enhance our understanding of individual-level disease biology and pathogenesis.
Examples of Precision Medicine
A simple example of precision medicine is ensuring the compatibility of blood types between donors and recipients during a blood transfusion or identifying the sensitivity of a wound infection to specific antibiotics through culturing before prescribing.
More examples of precision medicine include tailoring chemotherapy choices based on a cancer's genetic sensitivities or conducting extensive genetic testing to identify at-risk conditions for early screening.
Drawbacks of Precision Medicine
There are not many drawbacks of precision medicine, but one to consider is the cost. Typically, using a protocol for care is less expensive for the medical system, insurance, and the patient compared to implementing an individualized plan. However, creating an individualized plan requires a lot of simultaneous effort from both the patient and their healthcare providers.
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