May 3, 2021
How data can help precision and preventive medicine?
It's already a reality, our phones, watches not only keep us updated with the latest news but also keep us healthy.
The concept of precision medicine has been there for many years. For example, in the case of blood transfusion, we match the blood type from the donor to the receiver. But in many cases in medicine, the approach of the care is one-size-fits-all. The antihypertensive treatment we receive from our doctor is not personalized. Some lifestyle advice is not adapted to our work hours. Each person has a different genomic predisposition, different lifestyle, different gut microbiomes but the way medicine is done on a day-to-day basis still doesn’t take into account these singularities.
Welcome to the age of personalization
Smartwatches can track our heartbeat and our pace. Thus it can help us monitor our daily activity. We can imagine in the future that we can indirectly measure our blood sugar level (with algorithms and data about our food intake). These tools will be able to tell us, how and when to get some exercise or when we should eat ideally. With some calibration, we can get some help to get our 18:6 intermittent fasting done. The possibility is endless in the future to get us in better shape.
Big data and artificial intelligence will help us find cures to cancer in the future. They will also help us personalize the cure according to our genetic predisposition. In preventive medicine, it will help us live the healthy life we all deserve better. Yes, the solution is not to get sick in the first place. And technology will help us get there!
