Personalized medicine: a confluence of traditional and contemporary medicine

Abstract

Context: Traditional systems of medicine have attained great popularity among patients in recent years. Success of this system in the treatment of disease warrants consideration, particularly in cases for which conventional medicine has been insufficient.

Objective: This study investigates the similarities in principles and approaches of 3 traditional systems and explores whether conventional medicine is able to exploit the advantages of traditional systems.

Design: This study first identifies and explores the advantages of 3 well-known systems-traditional Iranian medicine (TIM), ayurveda, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-that are similar in their basic principles and methods. Second, it clarifies whether and how conventional medicine could exploit the advantages of traditional systems as it modernizes, to become more personalized. Finally, this study investigates the possibility that conventional medicine could benefit from traditional typology to improve its personalization.

Results: The acknowledgment of the unity of humans and nature, applying rational methods, and personalized approaches is fundamentally similar in the 3 systems. Additionally, they all promote the holistic view that health is harmony and disease is disharmony of the body. Other similarities include their recognition of the unique nature of every person and their categorization of people into different body types. Although conventional medicine has mostly failed to incorporate the advantages of traditional medicine, its integration with traditional medicine is achievable. For instance, exploiting traditional typologies in genomic and other studies may facilitate personalization of conventional medicine.

Conclusion: From its review, the research team concludes that prospects are bright for the integration of traditional and conventional medicines and, consequently, for a dramatic improvement in health systems.