Sep 29 2012
On September 28, 2012, Mediaplanet released its first edition of "Personalized Health," in USA Today, a 16-page publication trumpeting the arrival of personalized health and medicine. With the promise of personalized care, Americans will witness a long-awaited paradigm shift in healthcare with an approach that is less reactive and more proactive.
The Proactive Patient
The success of personalized health lies in the hands of the patients themselves; it is up to them to stay informed, to report regularly for screenings, to ask their doctors the right questions and to take the reins on their own health decisions.
In the instance of Rita Hardy of Indiana, being proactive saved her life. After learning about a Life Line Screening in her local community through a pamphlet that she received in the mail, she made what proved to be a fateful decision. After reporting for the routine health screening, it was revealed that both her right and left carotid arteries were blocked by plaque – a result that left both Rita and her primary physician stunned. "I had no symptoms whatsoever. None," she says. "If I hadn't gone to the screening, I could have had a stroke. It's something you don't know until you do a screening." Rita required vascular surgery and is now fully recovered and back to the activities that she truly enjoys, like doing work in her yard.
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