Genomic Medicine Is Theme of Multiple Journal Issues

Promise, pitfalls of personalized medicine highlighted in JAMA and associated journals

TUESDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- Although the emerging field of genomic medicine is still in an early stage, it holds exciting promise in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of diseases, according to reports published in March in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of Dermatology, Archives of Neurology, Archives of Ophthalmology and Archives of Surgery.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) addresses the gap between current knowledge about genomic medicine and its incorporation into the clinical treatment of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

The other journals address the relationship between genetics and conditions such as vitiligo, autoinflammatory diseases, keratosis, atopic dermatitis, corneal dystrophy, progressive damage to the eye's cone cells, uveal melanoma, eye movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, brain malformations, primary lateral sclerosis, severe obesity, pancreatitis, septic shock and liver failure.

"The greatest public health benefit of advances in understanding the human genome will likely occur as genomic medicine expands from its focus from rare genetic disorders to inclusion of more common chronic diseases," the authors of a systematic review published in the March 19 issue of JAMA, said in a statement. "With genomics discoveries relating to common chronic diseases, numerous genetic tests may emerge that hold promise for significant changes in the delivery of health care, particularly in preventive medicine and in tailoring drug treatment."

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