What is Personalized Healthcare?
Key Takeaways
Personalized healthcare, sometimes known as precision medicine, is an approach that focuses on using information about the individual to guide diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
With regards to health screening, most providers offer standard screening tests based primarily on demographic data (age and gender).
A personalized approach to health screening selects particular screening tests based on genetics, lifestyle, environment, and personal preferences.
A personalized health checkup also includes a discussion of factors like nutrition, which is almost never included in traditional health checkups.
One of the components of personalized healthcare is focused on prevention of medical conditions that the person is at risk of due to his or her genetics, lifestyle and environment..
There are also personalized treatment approaches, which select specific medical treatments based on individual factors (like specific biomarkers or genetic factors).
Personalized healthcare uses information such as genetics, lifestyle, environment, and personal preferences to guide diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. It also takes into consideration your mental and emotional well-being. The goal is to make healthcare more effective and efficient.
In truth, all healthcare is personal to some degree – that’s why you see your doctor one-on-one and not in a group setting. But in many cases, even though you’re seeing your doctor as an individual, they follow a standardized, cookie-cutter approach that’s based more on population-level health data than on your personal situation.
The difference with personalized healthcare is that decisions are made on an individual basis, instead of following a standard plan. This approach takes into account every aspect of your life, creating a testing and treatment plan that’s unique to you.
Another term that’s often used to describe this approach is “precision medicine.” This generally refers to tailoring medical treatments to particular aspects of a person’s situation, such as particular genetic markers. Many people use the terms “personalized healthcare” and “precision medicine” interchangeably, and there are no universally accepted definitions for each of these terms.
For those looking to optimize their health, wellness, and longevity, personalized healthcare is a powerful approach that can have huge benefits.
Personalized Screening
There is a set of standard screening tests that are generally recommended to everyone in particular demographic groups (based on age and gender). These tests have been chosen because they’re useful on a population level – usually because the condition they’re testing for is relatively common, and because the tests are simple and not too expensive. Most health screening providers recommend this set of standard screening tests to everyone.
However, for particular individuals, this panel of tests might not be ideal. For example, you might have risk factors for particular conditions based on your family history, medical history, or lifestyle. Testing for those specific conditions would make sense for you, even if it doesn’t necessarily make sense on a population level.
By understanding your risk factors as well as your goals for your health, your doctor can recommend a more appropriate panel of tests for you. For example, you may receive more detailed testing for certain conditions that you’re at a higher risk for. Testing might also be based on your goals for your health. If you’re an athlete who would like to continue participating in your sport for as long as possible, then you could receive more detailed testing for conditions that may affect your athletic performance.
What Is a Personalized Health Checkup?
All medical testing must be ordered by a doctor (or another qualified healthcare professional). This generally requires a personalized health checkup, which involves a visit to a doctor who uses the personalized approach to healthcare.
The first step is getting to know you as an individual. Your doctor will spend significantly more time with you during a personalized health checkup than they usually do during a standard health checkup. They’ll ask detailed questions about your family history, medical history, and lifestyle. You’ll also be asked about your goals for your health, which is not something that traditional health checkups usually address.
The next step is a detailed physical exam and physical measurements, including a body composition analysis.
In general, a personalized health checkup also includes the use of technology to take measurements. This goes beyond the usual measurements that are included in standard health checkups, which are usually limited to weight, height, blood pressure, heart rate, and sometimes temperature. For example, a body composition analysis using bioelectrical impedance analysis machine can be performed to determine a person’s body fat percentage, muscle mass, and visceral fat, which are all important parameters for health that are not commonly measured.
Your specific testing plan will be highly personalized for your specific situation, so everyone will receive a different specific set of tests, possibly including blood tests, urine tests, imaging scans, or specialized tests such as VO2max to assess metabolic fitness
Personalized Prevention
Once the results of your tests come back, you’ll have another appointment for your doctor to go over the results with you, and to give you guidance on the best ways to optimize your health and minimize your health risks.
A major goal of personalized healthcare is to prevent serious health issues from developing. In general, traditional health screening focuses mainly on detecting problems that you already have and treating them. With personalized healthcare, there’s a focus on determining what your health risks are and addressing them, with prevention as the major goal.
Based on the results of your screening tests, your doctor will determine what health conditions you may be at risk for. This allows them to give you personalized advice on how to reduce your risk. This could involve changes to your diet, exercise plan, sleep habits, or stress management practices, or it could involve taking supplements or medications.
Having personalized health checkups on a regular basis allows you to find out whether any changes you made are having the desired effects, and to adjust your plan as necessary. Over time, this can significantly reduce your risk of developing serious diseases.
Importance of Personalized Nutrition
Nutrition is one of the most important aspects of lifestyle, and has a huge impact on your long-term health. Unfortunately, it’s almost entirely overlooked during a traditional medical checkup. It’s rare for a doctor to give any specific nutritional advice, or even to perform testing for any vitamin or mineral levels.
A personalized health checkup includes much more focus on nutrition. Based on the results of your nutrient level testing, your doctor may recommend dietary changes or supplements to address any deficiencies. Nutrition may also be helpful to address potential issues found on your bloodwork, such as an increased risk of heart disease. You’ll also receive guidance on how to use nutrition to optimize your energy levels, focus, and metabolism, and to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight.
In some cases, the checkup will also need a consultation with a dietician, who can help you to create a specific eating plan that will optimize your health and will also work with your lifestyle. This level of support can be very helpful along your journey towards long-term health and well-being.
Like other aspects of health, nutrition is not one-size-fits-all. The national nutritional guidelines are intended to be averages, but of course no individual person is average in every way. By using the results of your testing, your medical team can give you much more personalized nutritional guidance.
Who Should Consider Personalized Health Screening
Almost everyone could benefit from a personalized health screening. However, there are certain groups who may particularly benefit from this approach, including:
People with chronic symptoms but no diagnosis. Health is complex, and determining the cause (or causes) of a person’s symptoms is not always easy. For those who have been experiencing symptoms, but haven’t yet received a diagnosis and effective treatment plan, a more comprehensive and individualized testing plan could help.
People with a family history of chronic illness. If many members of your family have experienced a particular condition, then your genetics could place you at an increased risk for that condition as well. Extra screening is warranted, to allow early detection and treatment (or even prevention).
People focused on performance. Those who want their bodies to perform at the highest level, such as competitive athletes, have a greater need to monitor how their bodies are doing, so they can respond to any potential issues quickly and maintain their level of performance.
People focused on longevity. Virtually everyone wants to live as long as possible. However, for those who have made a long lifespan (and healthspan) a major goal of their lives, the more detailed testing that’s characteristic of personalized medicine can help to achieve this.
Personalized Diagnosis and Treatment
Although prevention is a major focus of personalized healthcare, this approach is also being used for treating health conditions. The goal is to select specific treatments based on particular features found in the individual patient, such as genetic changes or biomarkers.
This approach is currently being widely used in particular fields of medicine. For example, cancer treatment is often guided by specific aspects of the individual’s cancer, such as certain genetic changes or the production of certain proteins. There is currently a lot of active research that aims to develop more precision medicine treatment options, and we expect to see more and more personalized treatments become available over the next few years.
Creating Your Personalized Healthcare Plan
Personalized healthcare can make a huge difference in your health, wellness, and longevity. It allows you to catch health concerns early and prevent them from becoming serious conditions that impact your well-being. You’ll also be able to optimize your lifestyle based on real data, and to adjust your plan as needed to achieve your goals.
There’s no age too young to start considering this. The sooner you take charge of your health, the better your chances to prevent serious health conditions from developing later on. At the same time, it’s also never too late to make changes that improve your health and well-being. No one is too young or too old to benefit from personalized healthcare.
The key is not to wait until you have a health problem to consider your health. Whatever your age or health status, regular personalized health checkups are a worthwhile investment in your long-term health.
Our NOVI Assessment program offers a variety of different screening packages, which can be customized for your particular needs. You’ll work with your doctor to select the tests that make sense for you. Based on the results, you’ll receive medical guidance (and any necessary treatment), along with support from dietitians and health coaches to help you achieve your health goals.