There has been more coverage in the press lately about personalised medicine. The general idea is to move away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach to medicine and the care of patients.
To understand that as humans we are all unique individuals and therefore any medicine and treatment would be more effective if it was tailored to suit the individual’s needs. As well as our inherent differences, our lifestyles and environments also contribute to our individuality.
Technology and science has moved on so that we are also able to analyse information about whole genome sequencing and this, alongside other clinical and diagnostic information, as well as wearable technology, has meant that patterns can be identified that can help predict our individual risk of developing a particular disease. We could detect illness earlier and identify the most effective interventions to assist us in improving our health, whether this is with medicines, changes to lifestyle or diet.
The idea of personalised medicine is not a new one. Clinicians have been working on tailoring care to people’s individual needs throughout the history of medicine. However, we are now in a situation where technology and innovations have made it possible for personalised care and medicine to really come to the forefront.
Here at the Meyer Clinic, we offer personalised Cancer Screening, Cardiovascular Risk Assessment, Medications and Wellbeing and Anti-Ageing medication.
Cancer Screening
If there is a family history of cancer, we advise people that there is now a test to check for genetic changes that can affect the risk of acquiring certain cancers. The test can also be used to help choose best treatment and dosage for hormone replacement therapy.
In cases where breast cancer has already been diagnosed, we can test to establish response and safety to cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy. Colorectal cancer screening can be checked through a blood test, rather than a stool sample.
Cardiovascular Risk Assessment
If you have high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, hyperhomocysteinemia and a family history of thrombosis, cardiovascular disease or diabetes; we can perform a cardiovascular risk assessment using preventative genetic analysis. Testing may be performed at any time.
Personalised Medication
As we are all individual, it makes sense that we will respond differently to medicines and treatment. Genetic information can help predict whether a particular medicine given at a particular dosage will have beneficial or adverse effect in a patient.
We can use the information gathered to avoid drug toxicity and to plan an individual tailored plan of what drugs would work together for the specified individual.
Wellbeing and Anti-Ageing
In today’s society, we can experience stress, overwork, fatigue, unhealthy diets and pollution. However, the effects of these on the individual can differ greatly from person to person.
Through genetic testing, we can gather some insight into this process and the effects it can have and take steps to combat any detrimental and negative effects on our health from our environment and lifestyles.
For further information please see our Personalised Medicine page. For advice and to arrange an appointment please call the Meyer Clinic on 01243 778888
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