Pantheon Medicine
Pantheon Medicine
Pantheon Medicine

Personalized Medicine

The last decade has seen tremendous scientific advances that have made it possible to diagnose and treat a growing number of diseases, especially cancers, much earlier and more accurately than ever before. Unfortunately, most physicians continue to practice trial-and-error medicine. Typically, the doctor makes a presumptive diagnosis and initiates a treatment. A standardized medication dose is used. If the intervention does not work or there are significant side effects, the dose may be adjusted or a second drug may be tried. If this is unsuccessful, a new diagnosis may be made. The process begins again until the right diagnosis and treatment are discovered. In contrast, personalized medicine employs a new generation of testing that allows a more precise diagnosis from the start. In addition, the patient's unique physiology, and the physiology of the tumor or bacteria or virus are taken into account in designing a specific treatment plan. Of course there remains a wide spectrum of diseases that we cannot address in this manner. But only a select minority of physicians are taking advantage of these advances. Most patients with an acute disease cannot afford the extra time involved in trial-and-error medicine.

Pantheon Medicine
Pantheon Medicine