HEALTH SPECIAL ..... WHAT AYURVEDA STARTED DOING AGES AGO ALLOPATHY ON WAY

Personalized medicine to be reality soon 

Sequencing DNA Make-Up For £100 Can Help Usher In An Era Of Tailor-Made Treatment

London: Personalized medicine for all in the United Kingdom could be a possibility in the “very near future” as people will soon be able to have their entire DNA make-up mapped for as little as £100, a leading British professor has said.
    Sir John Bell, professor of medical sciences at Oxford University, adviser on genetics to the government and chair of its human genomics strategy group, made his comments as UK Prime Minister David Cameron launched a national DNA database of up to 100,000 patients with cancer or rare diseases, The Telegraph reported.
    “The price of genome sequencing has been falling off a cliff. It has fallen by 100,000-fold in 10 years. We are headed for £100 a genome. That will happen in the very near future,” Bell said. He told Radio 4’s Today programme that it means everybody’s genetic make up would therefore be available if they wish it to be. “Genetics is a key component of all common diseases. There is a possibility that this will help in a whole variety of ways including the use of new drugs,” he said.
    The UK will be the first country to introduce hi-tech DNA mapping within a mainstream health system in a move designed to help it lead the world in tackling cancer and rare diseases, Downing Street said.
    Campaigners warned the project, in which patients will have to opt out of having their personal DNA code sequenced if they do not wish to be involved, comes with “very real privacy concerns”. If extended to the whole population, individuals and their relatives could be identified and tracked by matching their DNA to their genome stored in health care records in a move which could “wipe out privacy”, GeneWatch UK said.
    Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats opposed plans for a DNA database put forward under Labour, in part due to concerns over civil liberties, the paper said.
    But up to 100,000 patients over three to five years will now have their personal DNA code sequenced, anonymised and stored to increase doctors’ understanding of their genetic make-up, condition and treatment needs, and help develop potentially life-saving new drugs. “By unlocking the power of DNA data, the NHS will lead the global race for better tests, better drugs and above all better care,” Cameron said. “We are turning an important scientific breakthrough into a potentially life-saving reality for patients. If we get this right, we could transform how we diagnose and treat our most complex diseases not only here but across the world, while enabling our best scientists to discover the next wonder drug or breakthrough technology,” he added.
    Mapping the human genome for the first time in 2000 cost about £500 million, but it will soon be able to be done for less than £1,000, clearing the way for personalized medicines and individualized treatments. PTI  TOI121211

Prakriti-based medicine: A step towards personalized medicine

Bijoya Chatterjee¹ and Jigisha Pancholi²

Abstract

The concept of personalized medicine has been around for as long as people have been practicing medicine. From Charaka to Hippocrates, all have practiced the personalized approach for treating a disease. In the 21^st century, personalized medicine is all about DNA. Whereas the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and epigenetic factors influence drug response and form the basis of personalized medicine, the tridosha theory forms the basis of Prakriti-based medicine. It is well established by now that western allopathic medicine is excellent in handling acute medical crises, whereas Ayurveda has successfully demonstrated an ability to manage chronic disorders that Western medicine has been unable to cure. With effective integration of ‘omics’ Prakriti-based medicine can play a vital role in this changing scenario of global health wisdom as Ayurveda offers its modalities by way of ahara (diet), vihara (lifestyle), and aushadhi (medication), which are the three pillars of prakriti-based medicine making it a holistic science. Prakriti-based medicine and other traditional medicine systems have the potential to offer remedies to the challenging health issues like adverse drug reactions, drug withdrawals, and economic disparities among few. An integrative global approach could do wonders to health sciences benefiting a broad spectrum of patients.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296331/