Health care must move from its current reactive and disease-centric system to one that is proactive and focused on wellness, disease prevention, and the precise treatment of disease. With the boom in predictive and precision technologies, targeted therapies, and the growing evidence of benefits from effective patient engagement strategies, this shift is now possible. Personalized health care (PHC) is designed to do this.
PHC is based on the concept that each of us is born with inherited susceptibilities or resistance to various diseases. Genetic susceptibilities for most chronic diseases are greatly impacted by what we do and what we are exposed to. Dr. Snyderman’s The Inflection Curve of Disease illustrates the general trajectory for the development of disease over time and the points at which the individual and the health care system might intervene. As a chronic disease progresses, the chances of reversal of the disease decrease and the cost to the health system increases. Thus, the earlier the intervention, the better.
