Self-Knowledge and Risk in Stratified Medicine

The New Bioethics : a Multidisciplinary Journal of Biotechnology and the Body
Joshua Hordern

Abstract

This article considers why and how self-knowledge is important to communication about risk and behaviour change by arguing for four claims. First, it is doubtful that genetic knowledge should properly be called 'self-knowledge' when its ordinary effects on self-motivation and behaviour change seem so slight. Second, temptations towards a reductionist, fatalist, construal of persons' futures through a 'molecular optic' should be resisted. Third, any plausible effort to change people's behaviour must engage with cultural self-knowledge, values and beliefs, catalysed by the communication of genetic risk. For example, while a Judaeo-Christian notion of self-knowledge is distinctively theological, people's self-knowledge is plural in its insight and sources. Fourth, self-knowledge is found in compassionate, if tense, communion which yields freedom from determinism even amidst suffering. Stratified medicine thus offers a newly precise kind of humanising health care through societal solidarity with the riskiest. However, stratification may also mean that molecularly unstratified, 'B' patients' experience involves accentuated suffering and disappointment, a concern requiring further research.

References

Jul 28, 2005·Health Psychology : Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association·Paul SlovicDonald G Macgregor
Jun 20, 2012·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Haroon AhmedAdrian G K Edwards
Jan 15, 2015·Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease·E S BarrettS H Swan
Feb 28, 2015·Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine : Peer-reviewed, Official Publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine·Chinmay Barik, Atul Jindal
Oct 17, 2015·Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine·Yong-Pil Cheon, Chung-Hoon Kim
Jan 8, 2016·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Gerd Gigerenzer
Oct 1, 2016·Medicine·Joshua Hordern

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

May 30, 2019·Trials·Liz MorrellTimothy S Maughan

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.

Related Papers

Enfermería clínica
Ana Rodríguez-Gonzalo
NLN Publications
J L Lee
La semaine des hôpitaux : organe fondé par l'Association d'enseignement médical des hôpitaux de Paris
R FASQUELLE, P BARBIER
World Health Statistics Quarterly. Rapport Trimestriel De Statistiques Sanitaires Mondiales
S Sapirie
© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved