Everyday Medicine Vs Personalized Drugs

Everyday medicine today follows a standard protocol towards treatment – a trial and error process of which a physician provides a probable diagnosis and treatment; if this treatment fails, an alternative treatment is suggested (Pavelic et al, 2016, p. 5). This alternative treatment is often a simple dosage adjustment that is continuously altered until the right dosage is determined. Conversely, personalized medicine distinguishes itself from traditional treatment by a direct and exact diagnostic of a disease or ailment, in which a more adequate and plausible treatment pathway is developed (Pavelic et al, 2016, p. 5). This includes examining a patient’s ability to metabolize a drug, along with a dosage that will be effective towards the pathogenicity
8). This information is recognized in the form of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) composed of nucleotides. The sequences of the nucleotides within the DNA control different characteristics of humans from internal organ functions to the human phenotype. Diseases and pathogens often occur through different mutations or genetic variations in the human genome over time (Pavelic et al, 2016, p. 8). Personalized medicine aims to create and modify drugs so that they directly counteract these genetic variations for each specific individual, as opposed to using a generic drug that isn’t specific to exact genetic variations in disease for every
13). What differentiates this proof of concept in comparison to traditional treatment is that statistics for positive results are no longer based on the effectiveness on a population anymore, but rather on the assessment on individuals (Pavelic et al, 2016, p. 13). Since the treatment method would be entirely catered towards each specific individual, in theory, personalized medicine should show a 100% success rate on known diseases, as the genome screening process should be able to identify the exact problem with the patient, in which the most effective treatment process would be devised to cater towards that individual (Pavelic et al, 2016. p. 13). This means that all patients involved in the proof of concept would need to demonstrate significant rehabilitation from the respective personalized medicine catered for their specific genome. The advancement of imaging and screening technology for the genetic information within humans would also need to be improved in order to increase the rate of production of personalized medicine and to assure the treatment rate increases as well (Pavelic et al., 2016, p. 10). In the long run, this would drastically change the medical system today, and require much economic support and technological advancement to successfully be in