When I was recently working on a lecture on integrated diagnostics and integrated diagnostic centers
(IDCs) (see: The Evolution of Integrated Diagnostics into Integrated Diagnostic Centers), I became interested in the relationship between
wellness, preventive medicine, and the classic disease model, the latter defined as the treatment of clinically overt acute and chronic disease. I subsequently presented this lecture, entitled Integrated Diagnostics Emerges as Key Element in Healthcare, with the references to preventive medicine appearing in slides 24 and 29.
Based on some of the ideas incubating in my mind during this process, I decided to develop a healthcare diagram with wellness located at the top and flowing down to chronic diagnosable disease at the bottom. This approach is somewhat analogous to the diagnostic workflow diagram that I developed for personalized medicine (see: Continuing Discussion of the Role of Lab Medicine in Personalized Medicine). The diagram that I came up with is displayed above.
Note that I have placed the Early Health Model (EHM) domain above the broken line with a relationship to the Wellness Domain that encompasses both Preventive Medicine and Genomic Medicine. I have done this because the EHM refers to the diagnosis of pre-clinical, pre-symptomatic disease and therefore lies outside of the classic disease model. Note also that Genomic Health frequently involves the diagnosis of a predisposition to disease and therefore also lies above the line.
My view is that there now exists an inexorable pull of patients, more accurately described as health care consumers, upstream and toward the Wellness Domain in the diagram. This is occurring partly because of the effects of science and technology on healthcare delivery (pre-symptomatic diagnosis) and also because of the striking interest of consumers in understanding and improving their present and future health status. Molecular diagnostics will play a major role to play in the development of this Wellness Domain because laboratory tests are not only used to evaluate the status of an existing disease but, when normal, also help to define wellness, which is to say the absence of diagnosable disease.
Very nice model. I actually had a very similar lecture based on the same main elements that presented here.we can see that a lot of people today taking more action towards becoming healthy and taking care of their future,
Posted by: Personalized Cancer Therapy | June 13, 2011 at 07:02 AM