Genetics Healthcare
Optimal health requires that we know our disease susceptibilities before becoming sick. Since nearly all disease is genetic, this means we must know our genetic profile. The paradigm of personalized or genetic (some say genomic) medicine considers an individual's unique DNA patterns to inform decisions about health monitoring, drug prescribing and disease prevention measures.
Genetic healthcare is maturing first in the areas of cancer treatment and pharmaceutical choice, with the rest of healthcare close behind. Read about Personalized Medicine in Cancer: Matching Patients and Drugs.
At OHSU, personalized medicine is already being practiced in some cancer care. Most OHSU medical specialties are on the cusp of bringing genetics discoveries directly into clinical practice, including neurology, ophthalmology, cardiology, and many others.