The Value Of Personalized Health Care

By Donna Ward


All human aspects reveal that each person is unique. This is the principle that has informed medical experts in their quest to design personalized health care programs. From scientific evidence, there are diseases that are unique to a certain gender, demography, race, geographical region, etc. Is it therefore possible that people are failing to get cure or treatment because the medicines in use are generalized other than being particular?

Personalized medicine and personalized healthcare have been used interchangeably in some quotas. While the medicine element has been in use for a while through genomics and genetics, healthcare is only rising into eminence now. It has proven successful in treating breast cancer through therapy. This is the foundation that healthcare experts are building on.

Personalizing healthcare has captured the genomics and genetics elements and expanded them to capture other biological elements that are crucial in predicting the risk or level of exposure and how a person can respond to treatment. Some of the elements used are lipo-proteins that predict the level of exposure to stroke and heart disease. These are bio-markers that sharpen the traditional means that were used in predicting risks like menopause, age, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, etc.

Are there any advantages of personalizing healthcare to that extent? The answer is an outright yes. It has proven to be more cost effective to treat a person if the risk factors of exposure are specific. It takes as shorter period to conclude treatment which reduces overall cost. A sick person is able to return to normal productive life within a short time. The fact that you will not be using trial and error approach means that results will be achieved faster.

The quality of treatment also improves significantly which is an advantage to the nation and the individual. In the absence of trial and error, administered drugs will be more specific. This means that the chances of drug resistance will be reduced and thus facilitate faster healing. It eliminates side effects or makes them mild. The body and the healthcare system are not stressed, translating in better overall well being.

Customized healthcare involves the views of the patient to a greater extent than traditional approach. This has proven to be beneficial especially on drug adherence. It raises the percentage of people who stick to prescribed drugs beyond the traditional sixty percent. Involvement also raises the level of trust in the health sector and medication provided.

Personalized healthcare is also covered by insurers. The government is also increasing its focus on this kind of treatment with the aim of relaxing research rules and facilitating its actualization. With positive results and social as well as institutional acceptance, this plan is bound to lead to a revolution in the sector especially on personal well being.

It is obvious that not all facilities and personnel can provide these specialized services. As such, you have to work with institutions and personnel that can provide the package you want. Since the approach is still under experiment, not all conditions are covered. Involvement of the government and lead researchers is also an indication of a brighter future for such programs. With continued research, more conditions will be covered leading to better provision of healthcare services to the public.




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