Medical Innovations Make Patient Care More Precise
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports on a burgeoning field of medicine -- sometimes known by names such as translational medicine, personalized medicine, individualized medicine and precision medicine -- that focuses on smoothing out the path between patients and new products and technologies.
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Making Innovative Patient Care More Precise, Accessible Through The Precision Medicine Movement
With the use of “big data” and other powerful information technologies, more genetic variations linked to cancer are being identified. Patients’ genomes are screened against drugs such as the blood thinner Plavix to determine if those medications will be effective, a practice pioneered by the local Scripps Health network. Such testing is also occurring at Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine in San Diego. Infants and children with undiagnosed diseases are screened there in a bid to find treatments for them. (Fikes, 8/22)
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times covers a sweeping research effort designed to help women determine their risk of breast cancer and when they should be screened for the disease —
Los Angeles Times:
How Often Should You Get A Mammogram? It Depends On Whether You Have Dense Breast Tissue, Experts Say
For women older than 50 who have been confused by conflicting advice on how frequently to get a mammogram, some new science is here to guide their decisions. An ambitious research effort published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine set out to tailor women’s breast cancer screening practices to match their actual risk of breast cancer. It concludes that a woman’s breast density should influence the frequency with which she is screened for breast cancer, in addition to such long-recognized breast cancer risk factors as age, ethnicity, personal history of abnormal breast findings and a family history of breast cancer. (Healy, 8/22)