Optimists believe that very soon traditional medicine will give way to personalized medicine. Instead of standard drugs and general treatment schemes, everyone will have an individual approach. Medicines will be selected based on genetics, lifestyle and even habits.
Skeptics doubt it. In their opinion, even if personalized medicine becomes available, it risks creating a new gap in society - between those who can afford personalized treatment and those who are forced to be treated the old-fashioned way, using standard methods.
Let's figure out what's so special about personalized medicine and whether it can really change the approach to traditional treatment.
Personalized medicine
Two persons come to see a doctor with the same symptoms and leave with the same treatment. From a medical point of view, everything seems to be correct. In fact, this approach is not always justified. How can you prescribe the same treatment to everyone? After all, what helped one may be useless or even harmful to another. That's the whole problem.
It is wrong to blame doctors for this approach. They work within the existing system and act according to standard schemes, general protocols, designed for the "average" patient. As a result, treatment works for some, and does not for others.
For example, everyone is prescribed the same dose of medication, while genetics, lifestyle, and body condition are not taken into account. As a result, treatment is either delayed or completely useless, which leads to a loss of time, money and, most importantly, health.
And if the doctor knew that the patient has a genetic predisposition to a certain reaction to the drug, he could immediately adjust the dose or even replace it. This is how personalized medicine works.
However, personalized medicine can change not only the approach to treatment, but also serve as a catalyst for the development of other areas.
Anti-aging
When talking about anti-aging therapy, most people immediately associate it with cosmetology. Often, women, faced with the first signs of aging, go to a cosmetologist for a quick result. Therefore, many believe that #anti-aging is about "rubbing on" or "injecting". In fact, anti-aging medicine is aimed at working with the body from the inside. This was stated by the Holiverse company, which is engaged in developments in the field of cosmetic products.
The task in anti-aging medicine is not just to fight external manifestations, but to understand what diseases a person is predisposed to and prevent them.
As Lado Okhotnikov, the founder of the Holiverse, noted, cosmetology most often works only with external signs, leaving internal causes unattended. Moreover, some cosmetologists do not have a medical education at all, which means they simply do not understand how to get to the root of the problem. Therefore, problems are not cured, but “covered up”.
In #Holiverse, they realized that something needed to be changed in medicine. This is how they realized the importance of a holistic approach - when a person is considered on the whole, as a complex system. They began to take into account everything: body, mind, genetic data and even how a person behaves in the virtual world.
Then it became clear that running to different doctors for diagnostics and recommendations is not the most convenient option for patients. This is how the idea to create a simple and convenient system where everything can be done in one place, without leaving home appeared. You just collect a DNA sample, send it to the lab, and then specialists get to work.
In the lab, doctors sequence the genome — about 3.5 billion layers of code, including 30,000 known genes. This data is analyzed using AI algorithms. The unique genetic profile is compared with huge databases, which helps to understand how the body works at the molecular level. This gives an understanding of the body's characteristics: its metabolism, predisposition to diseases, and even how cells will age.
When the necessary information is collected, it is projected onto a photo of the person. This helps to get a complete picture of what he or she looks like now. Then, based on the image, a digital copy is created in the metaverse — a personalized avatar.
The process described seems complicated, but Holiverse assured that everything looks quite straighforward for the user.
The growth of the anti-aging services market. AbbVie and Lumenis are in the lead. The main users are clinics and rejuvenation centers. Women dominate, but there are more and more men in this market.
Source: inkwoodresearch.com.
A person does not need to understand the intricacies of genetics or AI algorithms to get precise personalized recommendations. Avatar actually simplifies understanding of how the body reacts to different factors — nutrition, treatment, physical activity.
In fact, this is a real breakthrough in pеrsonal medicinе. Just imagine what you can do with avatars: you can test how they will react to new diets, workouts or even medications, even before they are tried in real life. It's like a personal assistant who will tell you what works best and what you should avoid.
The company confirmed that it is possible to model almost everything related to the body: weight, muscle mass, gait and even posture. And although the first models still have limitations, specialists are constantly improving their accuracy, adding new scientific data.
Of course, there are details that will need to be worked on. For example, facial expressions, they are not directly encoded in DNA. That's why photographs are needed. But the basis is still genes. They help to create a dynamic model and predict how a person will look like in five or even thirty years under certain conditions.
It is encouraging that such breakthroughs in medicine are happening more and more often.
23andMe, Invitae, Holiverse
The private biotech company 23andMe helps to learn about your ancestry and disease risks. With their help, people can see the predisposition to diseases, as well as how the body can react to certain drugs. However, the company's developments are not for serious medical intervention.
Invitae is another well-known biotech company. It focuses on medical genetic testing, and its specialists work via doctors and clinics. For example, with the help of their technologies, they identify the risks of cancer at early stages or develop personalized treatment based on genetics. They also have tests for reproductive health that help couples learn about possible genetic risks for future children.
Holiverse is a new name in the field of biotech. Since this year, the company has been focusing on health issues and their approach to personalized medicine looks fresh. They plan to do not just diagnostics, but to provide a whole range of services. Digital copies of people will be created in the metaverse - avatars that will be able to reflect how the body reacts, for example, to medications or lifestyle changes. This will help literally track human behavior in real time in order to look into the future and prevent health problems before they appear.
If research continues in this area, then personalized medicine will reach a new level quite soon. And for this to become a reality as quickly as possible, it is necessary to constantly show that personalized treatment brings more results than a traditional approach.