Medicine is a method of curing disease, but like any method, it is not without risk or fault. People die every day due to adverse reactions to prescription drugs, and unforeseen symptoms are always developing in patients with complicated diseases.
Doctors can’t be expected to predict every medical difficulty that might interfere with a patient’s recovery; the body is a complex miracle of tiny cells that somehow come together to form the organs and systems that keep our blood flowing, our arms and legs moving, and help our brain interpret the world. When things go wrong with our bodies, the only thing we can blame is the complex and unpredictable nature
of biology.
But there is a new, revolutionary method of medicine that may eliminate all this uncertainty, if people are willing to abandon their uptight and unreasonable ideas of private medical information.
“Personalized medicine” centers on a patient’s use of their genomic sequence as a form of medical counseling. The human body is made up of DNA, which is basically a ton of sequences that ultimately code for specific physical traits, diseases and even behaviors and preferences.
Every human’s DNA is almost identical, with the exception of very small differences detectable only by advanced technology. Such technology can, from a small saliva or skin sample, print every single gene that makes up a person’s being on a piece of paper. This information, called a genomic sequence, contains the secrets to a person’s health.
Genes can roughly predict people’s lifespans, which fatal diseases might onset in their old age, whether or not their unborn children could have birth defects, if they are predisposed to addictions or psychological disorders, and a whole host of other medical conditions.
A patient’s genomic sequence could be like magic in their doctor’s hands; when a patient is diagnosed with a disease, the doctor can consult their patient’s sequence to ensure that he or she recommends methods of therapy and prescribes drugs that are most suited to the patient’s body’s specific needs. If the doctor finds that a patient has a gene indicating a poor metabolism to a specific drug, the doctor will know to prescribe an alternative. It’s simple and brilliant and future generations will be wondering why we ever practiced medicine any other way.
Patients will receive accurate care when they need it most but will also be able to view their sequences as general health advisers. Those who find out they have genes that predispose them to obesity or diabetes can create diet and exercise plans before the unhealthy conditions have a chance to take over their bodies. Medicine will cease to be a reactionary guessing game and can finally become the fine-tuned science the world needs.
Critics of personalized medicine oppose the technology because they are afraid. Some people don’t want to know the dirty details of their genetic information. They prefer to deal with health problems as they arise, rather than live in constant worry that cancer or a similarly scary disease might one day strike.
But there is no need to be afraid. More knowledge means more power to alter our fate; armed with the knowledge that our DNA isn’t on our side in the fight against diabetes, for example, we can vow to eat healthy foods, exercise regularly and monitor our blood sugar levels. Thanks to our genomic sequences, we will know to take positive actions and will be able to keep diabetes at bay.
Other critics are worried that insurance companies will use our sequences as reason to raise our monthly premiums. Insurance companies can view genetic predisposition to fatal diseases that require expensive treatments and medication as “pre-existing conditions,” and to protect themselves from major financial loss in the case that a customer actually succumbs to the disease, they will charge more per month.
This is nothing to be upset about, however. The insurance business is first and foremost a business, and when we ask a company to cover our medical expenses, it is only fair that we provide them with every piece of information that might affect them financially. This includes our genomic sequence, and once the technology is so widely available that insurance companies demand copies of customers’ sequences, we should not protest. We have no right to hide secrets from a company that essentially pays to protect our life.
Personalized medicine is the future of the health industry. It seems to be the most advanced method of pinpointing exactly what might be wrong with your body, at its most basic level, and zoning in on a similarly accurate cure. It’s silly to be opposed to a branch of medical science that could save lives more affordably, quickly and painlessly than ever.
