Precision medicine: Sensorineural hearing loss treatment

Precision medicine: Sensorineural hearing loss treatment Aarno Dietz, Professor of Otorhinolaryngology at Kuopio University Hospital, turns the spotlight on hospital precision medicine, focusing on the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss. Today, most medical treatments are designed for the average patient. This “one-size-fits-all-approach” may be effective for some patients but not others. Precision medicine refers to tailoring medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient, aiming to target the right treatments to the right patients at the right time. In general, a precision medicine approach does not mean unique treatments (e.g., drugs or medical devices) designed for each patient but rather the ability to classify individuals into subpopulations based on specific characteristics of the underlying disease or its response to a particular treatment. Advances in precision medicine have already led to new treatment strategies, e.g., in oncology, where tumour profiling is used to optimize adjuvant treatments, improving survival rates.