Everybody is unique. We all have our own personalities, lifestyles, environments, and genetics. We may enjoy the same things as someone else, or not. Our bodies may respond to a particular medical treatment more efficiently than someone else’s, or not. It’s important that healthcare providers see each patient as an individual rather than as a disease that needs treatment. But how do we make that happen? Personalized medicine allows the
Personalized Medicine? Precision Medicine? Which one is it? The term “personalized medicine” was coined about 20 years ago, when huge breakthroughs were being made in mapping the human genome. As more was learned about the human genome, it became clear that individuals faced different health risks based on their genetics, and it was also found that the ways in which people respond to different medications is determined in part by
I’m one of the nearly 3/4 of adults in the US taking at least one dietary supplement. Dietary supplements include vitamins, botanicals, herbals, and other substances that are extracted from food sources or made synthetically to mimic chemicals contained in foods, and are intended to increase the quantity consumed in the diet. So, does that mean that if we all ate a well-balanced diet, we wouldn’t need to use supplements? Well,