Precision Medicine and Public Health (from Precision Medicine and the Reinvention of Human Disease)

Excerpted fromPrecision Medicine and the Reinvention of Human DiseaseDespite having the most advanced healthcare technology on the planet, life expectancy in the United States is not particularly high. Citizens from most of the European countries and the highly industrialized Asian countries enjoy longer life expectancies than the United States. According to the World Health Organization, the United States ranks 31st among nations, trailing behind Greece, Chile, and Costa Rica, and barely edging out Cuba [42]. Similar rankings are reported by the US Central Intelligence Agency [43]. These findings lead us to infer that access to advanced technologies, such as those offered by Precision Medicine, will not extend lifespan significantly.Every healthcare professional knows that most of the deaths occurring in this country can be attributed to personal lifestyle choices: smoking, drinking, drug abuse, and over-eating. Lifestyle diseases account for the majority of deaths in the United States and in otherwestern countries, these being:heartdisease,diabetes, obesity, andcancer.Population-basedtrials that seek to improve theways inwhichindividuals live, by introducing adaily exercise routine, healthydiet, and cigarette abstinence, have yielded huge benefits, in terms of extending average lifespans [44]. At the front end of the human life cycle, it has been demonstrated that infant mortalities can be markedly reduced with simple measures, focusing on improved maternal education [45]. ...
Source: Specified Life - Category: Information Technology Tags: cancer cancer vaccines precision medicine prevention public health Source Type: blogs