Predictive Medicine

Definition

Predictive Medicine involves generating predictions about a patients’ health prospects based on their individual characteristics. Individual characteristics may include: environmental factors (e.g., smoking), demographics (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity), patient history (e.g., previous medications, previous medical conditions), family history (e.g., disorders of direct relatives), and clinical profile (e.g., current weight, current medications, genetic profile). Predictive medicine is a constituent of the Personalized Medicine concept and is commonly used in the context of genomic medicine (medical practice that incorporates knowledge of an individuals’ Genetic Profile and how certain profile characteristics give rise to certain phenotypes or physical conditions).

Predictive and Preventative Medicine

In the practice of Predictive Medicine, an individuals’ characteristics (including Genetic Profile information) may be useful for assessing risk of medication related side...