Open AccessPrimer on Precision Medicine for Complex Chronic Disorders
Author(s) -
David C. Whitcomb
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
clinical and translational gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.673
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2155-384X
DOI - 10.14309/ctg.0000000000000067
Subject(s) - precision medicine , medicine , personalized medicine , alternative medicine , medline , disease , population , intensive care medicine , medical physics , bioinformatics , pathology , biology , biochemistry , environmental health
Precision medicine promises patients with complex disorders the right treatment for the right patient at the right dose at the right time with expectation of better health at a lower cost. The demand for precision medicine highlights the limitations of modern Western medicine. Modern Western medicine is a population-based, top-down approach that uses pathology to define disease. Precision medicine is a bottom-up approach that identifies predisease disorders using genetics, biomarkers, and modeling to prevent disease. This primer demonstrates the contrasting strengths and limitations of each paradigm and why precision medicine will eventually deliver on the promises.