Why do we need Personalized Health?

Most countries now face a growing and costly chronic disease burden. Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Disease rates from these conditions are accelerating globally, advancing across every region and pervading all socioeconomic classes. The World Health Report “2002: Reducing risks, promoting healthy life” showed that the mortality, morbidity and disability attributed to the major chronic diseases currently account for almost 60% of all deaths and 43% of the global burden of disease. By 2020 their contribution is expected to rise to 73% of all deaths and 60% of the global burden of disease. Moreover, 79% of the deaths attributed to these diseases occur in the developing countries.

The Cost of Health Care

Health care costs are not only direct costs of treatments, drugs or services which are currently counted but can be borne by a range of stakeholders across the community, including community support groups, local businesses, families, carers and individuals within region. The costs are tangible to people in such things as out-of-pocket costs and gap payments, travel and accommodation costs, loss of income to individuals and families etc.

But costs are also intangible, both to our community and individual families including areas such as family unit stress and social disadvantage. The resulting social impacts including mental health, domestic violence, addictions, chronic disease, and the resulting increased dependency and reliance on welfare payments and associated community support.

Prevention & Reversal of Disease

It is becoming increasingly clear that a development in our modern health care is required to match the growing disease burden and health needs of a rapidly changing and complex world. Evidence based environmental and lifestyle modification is proving to be the most clinically and economically effective therapeutic tool for prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases. For example; hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), chronic pain disorders and even early prostate cancer have evidence to show that they can be completely or partially reversed with lifestyle and environmental modifications. The current body of evidence for disease prevention is more substantial with estimates that 80% of CAD and type 2 diabetes are preventable and conservatively at least 33% of cancers.

These are outcomes that no pharmaceutical agent can achieve at a fraction of the cost of current therapy regimes. Evidence is growing rapidly for the treatment and prevention of further chronic diseases like a range of cancers, autoimmune disorders, alzheimer’s disease and gastrointestinal disease using cost effective and evidence based environmental and lifestyle modification.

Personalization is Now Available

Throughout history the practice of medicine has largely been through trial and error. We have not fully understood the genetic and environmental factors that cause major diseases and hence our efforts to prevent and treat these diseases are often imprecise, unpredictable and ineffective. The therapies we devise are tested on broad populations and are prescribed using statistical averages. Consequently, they work for some patients but not for many others, due to genetic differences among the population. On average, any given prescription drug now on the market only works for half of those who take it.

By collating the latest research and utilizing the latest technologies, personalized healthcare has the capacity to identify the genetic tendencies to identify the onset of disease in its earliest stages and identify therapeutic high-yield areas. By correlating these tendencies with epigenetic and environmental modifications of individuals we can increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the health care system by reversing chronic disease pathology and improving quality, accessibility, affordability and avoiding the adverse effects of modern drug and procedural interventions.

What is ph360 in the context of Personalized Health?

ph360 is the philosophy that every body is different. When this is understood by a health professional, they are then able to start designing a program and intervention that is specific to the individual. The difficulty in providing this advice can be the calculation of the factors associated with the epigenetic requirements of the individual. ph360 is a revolutionary and comprehensive personalized health platform that gives you information on what you need to do to optimize your health right now. The information it delivers gives you specifics of your best foods, exercise regime, sleep schedule, climate, and an in-depth understanding of your brain at work, socially and in general function.

Rather than giving you a whole lot of information about your genes that doesn’t make sense, (e.g. you have the GG CYP1A2 variant…what do I do next?), ph360 gives you the specific action to take, i.e. the timing and type of foods that will support your optimal energy and brain function levels, your best time to sleep and then wake up, and so much more. ph360 interacts with the application Shae – Virtual Health Assistant. Shae digs into your ph360 profile and prompts you throughout the day with health tips personalized to your genes, and your current health.

How Does it Work?

Your health test includes measures of your body, questions about your health history, genetic lineage, environment and lifestyle. Over 10,000 data points are captured during this process, calculated using a combination of Western genetics and Traditional Chinese & Ayurvedic principles, and this data is then used to calculate your current state of health and corresponding health advice. In short, it measures your genes, how they are currently behaving, and guidance on what to do to put your genes in their optimal state.

By measuring your body, science can assess your current health status.

Science has proven that your lifestyle can affect your health.

Ph360 integrates these insights to deliver personalized lifestyle recommendations for your current health status!

Decades of research gathered centuries of data from scientific studies and lifestyle interventions.

A Collaboration of Evidence

ph360 is not a new science. Rather, ph360 is the culmination of the current scientific literature and filters that science for relevance depending on an individual’s current condition and genetic background. As the literature base grows, so do the outputs of ph360 to ensure validity and currency.

The genetic information held within our DNA can be seen in our physiology in some form or another. Genes code for the size and thickness of our bones, how much and where we hold fat & muscle tissue, the colour of our eyes, hair, skin, the way we physically develop as children, the diseases of which we are at greater risk, and many others. When these and other factors are assessed through specific combinations of correlations, the gene variants within an individual can be calculated. This method has been complex to establish and requires advanced technology to process and integrate, however, an international team working for 2 decades on research and software development have informed the basis for what are now trusted methods of determining phenotype and the resulting individual requirements.

The Calculations

Both the measures and the questionnaire used as part of the assessment in ph360 have been mapped to the genome using existing data from an international consortium focussing on genetic research. The combination of genetic mapping and quantifying phenotype gives information on neural activity correlated to EEG measures, hormonal dominance, nutrigenomic requirements and chronobiological and biomechanical considerations. This information is used to inform a more comprehensive picture of both disease risk, current health state, and recommended actions for improvement of condition.

This calculations performed are constantly updated and revised using new findings as they come to light to adjust and add quantifiable metrics and therapeutic recommendations.

Application of Personalized Health

Understanding and applying personalized health is appropriate for all levels of health professionals. The level of ability for each practitioner to apply these principles are guided by their professional scope of practice. Practitioners currently applying personalized health through the use of ph360 include:

Training for health professionals provided through national and international courses and workshops, which can be found here. Once the primary courses are completed we provide ongoing professional development through online content, webinars and advanced training workshops.

The level of training eventually acquired depends on your existing professional position and scope of practice.

Useful Resources

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