Personalized medicine and stroke prevention: where are we?

Abstract

Joosup Kim,1,2 Amanda G Thrift,1 Mark R Nelson,3 Christopher F Bladin,2,4 Dominique A Cadilhac1,2 1Stroke and Ageing Research, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia; 2Public Health, Stroke Division, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia; 3Discipline of General Practice, School of Medicine, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia; 4Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia Abstract: There are many recommended pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies for the prevention of stroke, and an ongoing challenge is to improve their uptake. Personalized medicine is seen as a possible solution to this challenge. Although the use of genetic information to guide health care could be considered as the apex of personalized medicine, genetics is not yet routinely used to guide prevention of stroke. Currently personalized aspects of prevention of stroke include tailoring interventions based on global risk, the utilization of individualized management plans within a model of organized care, and patient education. In this review we discuss the progress made in these aspects of prevention of stroke and present a case study to illustrate the issues faced by health care providers and patients with stroke that could be overcome with a personalized approach to the prevention of stroke. Keywords: stroke, prevention, personalized health care, education