After dealing with unique cases of patients suffering from the same diseases, the medical sector has revolutionized and developed better ways to deal with individual patients. People may look the same through the outside lens, but they are defined by totally different characteristics.
This has made medical researchers come up with ways to deal with each patient differently and improve their health. Due to their molecular and physiological characteristics that differ, they need treatment methods and drugs tailored to their uniqueness.
The current technological advancements, such as DNA sequencing and imaging, have shown how diseases affect individuals differently. This article will help you understand precision medicine and its importance.
Understanding Personalized Medicine
We are all humans, and we probably look the same, from our organs to the way we do things. However, we are all defined by unique characteristics, just like how we have personalities. Health professionals know this and have proven it through treatment, where one method can work on one person and fail to work on another. They developed precision medicine (unique medical treatment tailored to every patient’s characteristics).
This method of treatment guides doctors on how a person’s genetic profile can expose them to certain diseases, enhancing their ability to develop treatments that are safe for each patient. This means that the doctors will sometimes choose a treatment or therapy based on the patient’s profile to reduce side effects and improve outcomes.
The method has also helped doctors to reduce costs that come with trial-and-error methods of disease treatment, transforming the way we think about health issues.
Benefits of Personalized Medicine
Reduced Trial And Error Prescription
Over many years, medical practitioners have used the trial and error method when dealing with patients whose history they don’t know. This means that the possibility that the treatment used will not work is high.
In fact, 50% of trial-and-error medicines do not work. This is because people have different genes that react differently to different treatments. The development of precision medicine has come to save many from taking drugs that don’t help their bodies. Doctors use genetic screening to help them select a therapy or treatment formula that works best for their patients, eliminating frustrations with the trial-and-error technique.
The method has been applied in treating women’s breast cancer. Physicians conduct molecular diagnostic tests to know if the treatment they plan to use will benefit the patients. They will also determine whether chemotherapy will work on the patient. These tests inform doctors whether the condition can be treated with hormone therapy to avoid the costly and frustrating effects of chemotherapy.
Transformation of Medical Emphasis from Reaction to Prevention
As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Personalized medicine has helped physicians diagnose the risk of disease early before signs and symptoms start to show through molecular makers. With this information, they can use prevention methods or early treatment to prevent the condition from advancing.
Treatment has been focused on saving life for many years. Today, doctors perform genetic tests to know whether a person is at risk of inheriting a certain disease from their parents.
Although not every test can be associated with a therapeutic option, genetic testing, and diagnoses have helped to prevent and eliminate costly and invasive treatments. For example, a person may learn they are at risk of getting breast cancer by inheriting certain cancerous cells from their mother and can benefit from suggested lifestyle changes to prevent the disease.
Reduce Adverse Drug Reactions
Drug manufacturers and researchers aim at reducing or eliminating adverse drug effects to improve their safety and efficacy but they need to do more. The process of knowing which drugs work best for which patient has not reaped much. The fact is that the percentage of adverse effects of drugs continues to increase each day. Most of these toxic effects result from gene variations.
For instance, the drug Warfarin, which is commonly used to prevent blood clotting, can be complicated by gene variations. The trial and error method commonly used to test the effectiveness of the drug in a patient puts them at risk of excessive bleeding or more blood clots. Different vitamin supplements can prevent blood clots but don’t work the same in all patients.
Understanding the genetic history of a patient helps doctors guide patients about which and where to buy vitamins that are effective in eliminating clotting without compromising their health. This makes the FDA recommend gene testing before prescribing Warfarin treatment to any patient that allows personalized treatment. The method improves patient safety and reduces serious fatal adverse effects.
Increases Effectiveness of Treatment
When a certain treatment method causes adverse effects to the patient, the effectiveness of treatment reduces while health care costs increase. The good thing is that these non-compliance effects can be reduced through personalized treatment.
They are usually focused based on the patient’s characteristics, which improves their effectiveness and reduces side effects. Trial and error treatment can exacerbate the condition, especially if it is chronic, like asthma or diabetes. Additionally, teaching patients about genetic predisposition has helped them to live lifestyles that improve their health.
Reveals Alternative Used For Drug Candidates
A treatment method or drug that fails to work on a high percentage of patients can be used to benefit a limited niche. It might not work on generalized patients, but it works on specific defined patients.
An example is a lung cancer drug (gefitinib) that failed to demonstrate survival benefits in generalized patients during trials. It was withdrawn from the market, but with tests, it was later approved for a small number of patients with epidermal growth mutations in the UK. All thanks to personalized treatment, which enables doctors to know which Medicine works best for which patient.
In conclusion, personalized treatment has significantly improved patients’ health as well as the treatment process. Physicians do not have to make patients pass through an array of treatment methods to determine which works for them.
They just conduct genetic tests to determine the best treatment method or drug for a specific patient. Doctors can now emphasize prevention rather than reaction by determining if patients are exposed to the risk of a specific disease. Physicians can also determine which treatment has fewer side effects on patients depending on their genes. This increases how patients adhere to treatments because they don’t just receive generalized treatment but personalized treatment.
