Have you ever wondered why some medicines don’t work for you? Or why you can’t see a thing when you put on your friend’s glasses? This is because you are special! YOU are a unique combination of genes, environment, and lifestyle, and YOU require specialized prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to achieve optimal health. This includes your eyeglass prescription and much more. In fact, there is an entire field of medicine dedicated to studying how each person’s unique genetic makeup can help better treat and cure disease. It’s called Precision Medicine, and it’s kind of a big deal right now.
After the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, scientists were able to “decode” a human being by looking at DNA, which tells us everything from the color of our eyes to our risk of certain diseases. {Nerd Alert: I have a supersized version of the Human Genome Assembly hanging in my office.} On the heels of this project, President Obama launched the Precision Medicine Initiative in 2015. Part of the initiative, known as the All of Us Research Program, seeks to gather the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle information of one million Americans in order to develop more precise treatments for diseases
Here are some examples of ways Precision Medicine can improve health:
After the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, scientists were able to “decode” a human being by looking at DNA, which tells us everything from the color of our eyes to our risk of certain diseases. {Nerd Alert: I have a supersized version of the Human Genome Assembly hanging in my office.} On the heels of this project, President Obama launched the Precision Medicine Initiative in 2015. Part of the initiative, known as the All of Us Research Program, seeks to gather the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle information of one million Americans in order to develop more precise treatments for diseases
Here are some examples of ways Precision Medicine can improve health:
Genetics: A man with acid reflux has a genetic variant, which stops his liver from producing the enzyme needed to make his heartburn medicine work. Knowing his genetic information will help his doctor prescribe another drug that does work, saving him valuable time, suffering, and money.
Environment: A young girl with a family history of asthma moves to a new town with her parents and suddenly starts experiencing asthma symptoms. The doctor asks which school she attends, and they discover the building is next to a major highway. Living, working, or playing near large transportation corridors can worsen symptoms for kids with asthma risk.
Lifestyle: A 35 year old woman with a history of abnormal pap smears asks her doctor what she can do to lower her risk for cervical cancer. During the exam, she mentions that she’s smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Her doctor explains that this is one of the strongest risk factors for developing cervical cancer, and puts her on a smoking cessation program.
Environment: A young girl with a family history of asthma moves to a new town with her parents and suddenly starts experiencing asthma symptoms. The doctor asks which school she attends, and they discover the building is next to a major highway. Living, working, or playing near large transportation corridors can worsen symptoms for kids with asthma risk.
Lifestyle: A 35 year old woman with a history of abnormal pap smears asks her doctor what she can do to lower her risk for cervical cancer. During the exam, she mentions that she’s smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Her doctor explains that this is one of the strongest risk factors for developing cervical cancer, and puts her on a smoking cessation program.
These are just a few examples, using data that has already been collected, but there is still much work to be done. To get a fuller picture, scientists need data from groups that tend to be represented less in research. They include minority populations, women, those with low incomes, residents of rural communities, and others.
If you would like to help speed up this research, which will result in greater healthcare for all, check out All of Us from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Their mission is simple: to speed up health research breakthroughs. The future is bright!
If you would like to help speed up this research, which will result in greater healthcare for all, check out All of Us from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Their mission is simple: to speed up health research breakthroughs. The future is bright!
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references
Carlsten, Chris et al. “Genes, the Environment and Personalized Medicine: We Need to Harness Both Environmental and Genetic Data to Maximize Personal and Population Health.” EMBO Reports 15.7 (2014): 736–739. PMC.
Fonseca-Moutinho, José Alberto. “Smoking and Cervical Cancer.” ISRN Obstetrics and Gynecology 2011 (2011): 847684. PMC
Precision Medicine. Kids Health. 2017
Fonseca-Moutinho, José Alberto. “Smoking and Cervical Cancer.” ISRN Obstetrics and Gynecology 2011 (2011): 847684. PMC
Precision Medicine. Kids Health. 2017
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