Personalized Medicine: How your Genome can improve Healthcare | Marilena Melas | TEDxColumbusWomen

[smoothoperator]

A rare combination of beauty, brains and hard work in one person! Excellent job!

[eleftheriosbeltsios]

Great Talk Marilena! Congratulations ! 🙏🏻💯

[alfredascencio]

This talk is amazing. It is Oscar worthy.

[billmelas]

Lucid and comprehensive speech about Personalized Medicine. Bravo Marilena!

[womeninscience]

So passionate and motivated!Congratulations girl! You are an inspiring role model for all young female scientists out there!

[rickeebobbee]

Dr. Marilena Melas does a great job painting a picture of this new approach to medical treatment. The idea of using your genome to identify possible gene mutations or chromosomal defects that can cause or can explain the origin of a specific disease is one that presents an interesting ethical dilemma. In medical ethics, the idea of beneficence is to promote the well-being of others. On one hand genomic medicine addresses this idea by identifying these mutations or specific genes so that medical treatment can be tailored to target them specifically. It can also allow an individual to take preventive measures to help lessen future symptoms of a disease or even help them to mentally prepare for a future diagnosis. On the other hand, with this new approach to medicine, we need to understand the possible consequences that can come from obtaining this knowledge. Many insurance companies currently deny coverage for individuals that have certain preexisting conditions and if someone has had genetic testing that shows a predisposition toward disease would this count as a preexisting condition? This then begs the question on if genetic testing is in fact promoting well-being or is it actually a detriment in the long term. I believe that there is a lot of hope and promise in the pursuit of personalized medicine but before this approach can become a standard practice, there definitely needs to be some parameters set on how this information can be used. This information needs to only be used for the benefit of the patient and to tailor their medical treatment. The use of this information should be independent from medical, life, and disability insurance coverage and used to ease the burden of disease, not to benefit an insurance company. Another aspect of genomic medicine that needs to be addressed is the accessibility of these services to the public. Justice is a medical ethics principle that refers to a fair and equitable distribution of health services. Having the option of genetic testing should be available and easily accessible to people from all walks of life. This is a major problem in our healthcare system today. There are many demographics of people that barely have access to basic medical care but if we were able to offer genetic testing to the general public, we could potentially save billions of dollars each year in healthcare costs by detecting and predicting diseases before they become life threatening. I am in support of genomic medicine so long as it is used for the benefit of the patient. As genomic medicine gains more traction, we need to be cognizant of the potential consequences of its use to truly promote the well-being of others.

[EthicsQ-pboc]

Dr. Marilena Mela's talk was outstanding and has really shown how far we have come in medicine. Her talk made me think about certain ethical beliefs that come up when we talk about Genome sequencing. We should always try and follow the ethics principle of beneficence when considering options like this and ask ourselves, are we doing good? Does the good outweigh the possible consequences? Insurance companies have really taken control over the genomic sequencing and used it against the patients themselves. The Federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act does not allow insurers to ask you about your genetic information and therefore make decisions on whether to sell you health insurance or how much to charge you. However, those privacy protections don't apply to long-term-care policies, life insurance or disability insurance. In the long run, a person might be denied long term care over a genetic testing they did in their 20' or 30's to just learn more about themselves and their body. Overall, I believe genomic testing is following beneficence and providing good by helping people know more about themselves and make informed decisions, although we cannot ignore the possible consequences that might occur in the future that someone might not even know existed.

[scienceaddicted]

Bold, Briliant AND Beautiful! What an inspiring and fascinating talk!

[TheTobacko]

INVITAE is the perfect company 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[Glowing-lady]

Thank you so much for clarifying, I understand more so I can do my assignment❤️❤️❤️.

[angelikivakka]

congratulations! passionate, dedicated, beautiful! you are unique! <3

[zpfzthj]

While Dr. Marilena Mela’s talk about the impact that a person’s genome seems very promising for the future of medicine, it also brought some ethical concerns to mind. People may wish to know if their genetic composition makes them more prone to having certain diseases so that they are able to begin screenings and/or treatments early, however this may pose issues when it comes to health insurance companies. If notifying your insurance company of these results becomes the norm, and a patient’s genetics shows they are predisposed for certain diseases, it’s quite possible these companies will be less willing to take certain people on and provide adequate coverage. While it is not my belief that this is morally right, it will be something providers need to consider before recommending genetic screenings to their patients. Patients should be allowed freedom to choose whether to have these screenings completed, and subsequently, the results should be kept confidential. With autonomy being a huge component of healthcare, the choice of disclosing genetic results should be up to the patient. In a perfect world, genetic screenings could be done with the sole purpose of providing proper care and treatment for all, however that is not the world we live in. Just some food for thought.

[nico]

enomic medicine poses a lot of complex ethical issues. One of the main topics that comes to mind is the principle of privacy and confidentiality. As it stands, insurance companies cannot purchase genomic data for individuals their policy covers. This is a federal statute, but it does not include long term care policies or life and disability insurance. As physicians, we can provide patients with genomic information that can allow them to make informed decisions about the future health. In doing so, we expose them to predatory policies of insurance companies that may prevent them from receiving coverage later in life. I believe the right thing to do in these cases is to present both the pros of the tests as well as the aforementioned consequences. This will uphold the principle of informed consent and is the best practice for this new test that many of us will likely administer in the future. The genomics conversation also brings up the principle of justice. If only the wealthy can obtain personal health information that could shape health decisions that could prolong their healthspan, is it just to gatekeep that information with financial constraints? If it is not, who should pay for it?

[eseyinelizabeth]

*Dr Kosun* your herbal remedy did work wonders for me. Thank God I was able to contact you through your channel on YouTube
You are indeed a herbal doctor, thank

[alecharrington]

It is crazy to me that this talk was made about three years ago, and yet now we have seen genomic medicine become a more mainstream player in a lot of different fields of medicine. While genomic medicine is probably one of the most innovative fields that continues to grow, I do think that the current systems that aid people to pursue treatments that come from genomic medicine need to grow in-terms of offering protection. Due to the lack of laws that protect genetic information, it is not uncommon for third-parties to inquire about a person's previous genetic testing when offering specific types of services. In the United States, third-parties that sell certain types of insurance, such as life-insurance, can inquire about previous genomic testing that was done prior to deciding rates for those types of insurance plans. However, that does not mean that there are not laws that currently protect genomic information.
As a matter of fact, health insurance agents and employers are some of the parties that are barred from acquiring information about genetic testing that people have pursued in the past due to the introduction of the Genetic Information Nondiscriminatory Act in 2008, but ever since the introduction of that law, there have not been too many other polices that have come out that have the same social impact that I have heard of. Because our systems do take arguably more time to create policy and pass laws regarding the protection of genomic information, is there a concern that genomic medicine will evolve at a rate that our current systems will not be able to keep up with and cause potential indirect harm? Regardless of the potential, I do think it is important to continue to find ways to protect those who pursue genomic medicine as a viable treatment option by finding ways to continue to implement systems or laws that protect patient autonomy and privacy.

[LoveOneSV]

Yes, rapid advances in scientific research and the availability of large-scale data analysis tools created he field of personalized medicine, but it is still in its very infantile state. However, with the ability to provide patients with targeted therapies that are unique to their individual health needs, clinicians can tailor treatment plans to the specific genetic mutations or biomarkers present in the patient. This is unlike traditional methods of treatment where we work with the "average" patient, although even then the average usually means white cis male of Caucasian decent because of how a lot these studies were designed in the past. Personalized medicine has the potential to improve health outcomes and disease prevention strategies. But as the science of this strand of medicine improves, we should simultaneously consider ethical principals at hand with this technology. The main two of them being justice and confidentiality.
In theory, all patients should have equal access to genetic testing and personalized treatments, regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, or ethnicity. However, even current personalized treatments available are extremely expensive and patients from lower SES demographics, who often have the biggest need for such treatments, are excluded from their benefits. We as society must address this issue before the treatments become mainstream to avoid the further perpetuation of inequalities that are already very obviously present.
Another issue of confidentiality is at play with personalized medicine. Genetic information is highly sensitive, and patients have the right to privacy and control over their genetic information which currently do not possess at a satisfactory level. Additionally, the are not a lot of laws that prevent cooperation from using this data for malicious intents. We must create laws and rules that favor the rights of patients before centralizing personalized treatments that rely on discovering patient’s genetic material.

[bassholistic]

what is the name of the drug, the transcript smells out barbeque bitters

[eseyinelizabeth]

*Dr Kosun* your herbal remedy did work wonders for me. Thank God I was able to contact you through your channel on YouTube
You are indeed a herbal doctor, thank you$$$