Personalized treatments for chronic conditions have the potential to transform the way we prevent and treat disease by tailoring prescriptions to each person’s unique genetic makeup and health information.
The mainstream approach to chronic condition management assumes that all patients are similar but treatments are usually ineffective, and can cause harm. There is a growing recognition that better disease prevention and disease management, including personalized treatments for chronic conditions, are essential to reducing preventable deaths and controlling rising health care costs.
According to a new study in Canada, the proportion of people who died with two or more chronic conditions increased from 79.6% in 1994 to 95.3% in 2013. The largest increases were observed for hypertension (42%), osteo- and other arthritis (38%), and mood disorder (29%). Other chronic conditions identified by the study were acute myocardial infarction, asthma, cancer, cardiac arrhythmia, chronic coronary syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), congestive heart failure, Crohn’s disease or colitis, dementia, diabetes, osteoporosis, other mental health disorder, renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, and stroke.
Incorporating personalized treatments for chronic conditions using clinical decision support is vital to improving outcomes for patients and addressing increasing rates of chronic diseases. For example, precision prescribing software and pharmacogenetics can be used to identify cost-effective and safe treatment options for cardiovascular disease and mental health.