Allison Janson Hazell, Genetic Counsellor
Personalized Medicine (PM) is a buzz term right now, and is being hailed as the ‘next big thing’ in medicine. But what does it really mean?
Personalized Medicine can be broadly defined as a medical model that emphasizes the customization of healthcare, with all decisions and practices being individualized to a specific patient.
Most physicians will agree that ‘personalized medicine’ is nothing new, and in fact they’ve been practicing it for years. These physicians argue that they treat their patients as individuals, and manage their care based on their individual medical parameters and individual needs. For example, anytime a doctor alters the management of a patient based on his or her body mass index or cholesterol level, that doctor is personalizing care for that patient.
However, the new era of personalized medicine aims to take this ‘personalization’ a step further by customizing your medical care based on your DNA. New technology has enabled us to incorporate your genomic variability into decision-making around medical management, diagnosis, treatment and disease prevention strategies.
At Medcan we dove right into the new era of personalized medicine when we first started offering our Personal Genome Testing in 2009. Our program offers clinically-guided genome testing in the context of a primary care setting, and allows people to understand their genetic risks for common complex disease as well as risks for medication sensitivities (see ‘Pharmacogenomics’ for more information.) Our program is focused primarily on disease prevention: by understanding where you’re starting out with higher genetic risks, you can make modifications to lifestyle, diet and/or screening practices in order to reduce your risk for disease, and hopefully prevent it all together.
For all intents and purposes, personalized medicine is still in early days. The shift towards using genomic information in mainstream medicine is likely to take time, especially in larger institutions. However, at Medcan we have learned first-hand how beneficial incorporating genomic information into your primary medical care can be. We’re excited about what the future holds, as we continue to grow our program and navigate the new world of personalized medicine.
