Personalized Medicine Promises and Pitfalls

Personalized Medicine: Promises and Pitfalls broadly explores the tailoring of medical treatment to a patient?s characteristics, needs, and preferences during all stages of care, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.

The book?s goal is to explain the science behind personalized medicine, what impact it may have on specific diseases, and some of the repercussions of a personalized medical approach on our medical institutions.

Novel personalized therapeutic treatments and their scientific basis are discussed by covering topics as diverse as genomics, proteomics, epigenetics, integrative medicine, stem cells, and the factors that influence personal health.

A personalized medical system also requires patient involvement in developing a healthy lifestyle, and so this book touches on topics such as the individual?s family history, present and past lifestyle, nutrition, exercise levels, and stress factors.

By explaining these broad topics in personalized medicine and the science behind them, we discover how personalized medicine can have a positive impact on an individual?s health.

Genomics. Proteomics. Epigenetics. Integrative Medicine: Nutrition and Exercise. Other Integrative Medical Treatments. The Placebo Effect. Stem Cells. Scientific Studies and Medical Trials. Medical Training for Personalized Medicine. Drug, Hospital, and Medical Care Costs. Ethics. Conclusions. Glossary of Scientific Terms.

Gloria Gronowicz, PhD, is currently a professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, USA. Dr. Gronowicz received her PhD in biological sciences from Columbia University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago. She has published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, ten book chapters and many scientific abstracts for national and international meetings. For more than 25 years, Dr. Gronowicz has had continuous NIH funding and has been funded by numerous scientific and medical foundations for her research. Her research interests include bone biology, osteoporosis, aging, the response of bone cells to implant materials, otosclerosis and integrative/complementary medicine.