Health care evolving

REVOLUTION: FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN TREATMENTS

- ASGAR RANGOONWALA

SILVER BULLET. Targeted treatments are becoming the promising medical alternative.

(Picture: iStock)

The future of health care is rapidly evolving and nowhere is this more evident than in precision medicine and mental health.

As we grapple with some of the most severe diseases and disorders, the need for innovative solutions has never been more urgent.

The most exciting developments lie in the shift towards treatments that achieve more than simply managing symptoms, but fundamentally altering the trajectory of diseases such as cancer, schizophrenia and treatment-resistant depression.

This revolutionary and relatively new approach tailors treatment to the individual patient, often at the molecular level.

Gone are the days when cancer treatment meant a one-size-fits-all approach.

Historically, tumours would be treated with chemotherapy, a method that's as blunt as it's broad, affecting not just the cancer cells but healthy cells as well.

The side-effects were often as debilitating as the disease itself.