I think that there are three challenges to medicine in 2011. I would like to share my view as a physician scientist with you.
1. The root causes of diseases
At this point, we still don't know the root causes of most diseases. I am working on Wolfram syndrome and juvenile-onset diabetes (type 1 diabetes). We know how to control juvenile-onset diabetes, but we cannot prevent or delay the progression of the disease. We need to understand the root causes of diseases to develop novel therapeutics.
2. The variation of disease that occurs across patients
For example, not every patient with Wolfram syndrome has exactly the same disease. Some patients develop diabetes earlier and some patients develop optic atrophy slower than others. We need to understand the root cause of the natural variation. This is crucial for developing personalized medicine. 3. Deliver new therapies to patients
We need to deliver new therapies to patients. It is often challenging to get the best therapies to patients for many reasons. A patient may not afford the best therapy or may not have a doctor who knows the best therapy. We need to raise awareness of this issue. I believe that patient family-physician-scientist partnerships will play an important role in resolving this issue.
I think that this is a very good point. I especially like the way that you look to personalize patient care. I believe that you are right about the need to understand the variations in the diseases of each patient, because when each patient's suffering is as unique as they are, they will need specialized care. I think that too many people rush to try to find THE cure without taking the time to understand the disease. With such thinking, I think that you have made a major breakthrough in reasoning and understanding the best possible path to treatments and eventually cures that will work and as affective as possible for each patient. It is clear that you care deeply for patients, and I think that you are well on your way to accomplishing your goal. I wish you nothing but the best on the road ahead!
返信削除Nicole,
返信削除Thank you for the feedback. I agree with you. Each patient is different in many aspects. We really need to understand the causes of the natural variation of disease.