A mix of Health and Big Data, the exposome will change our lives: "More personalized and predictive medicine"

The noise of cars, smoke from exhaust pipes, artificial light from lights and the stress of traffic jams. All this is our day, and we assumed that we should not worry. But really, a new term invented by science tells us that we should at least take it into account. is he explanatoryMaría Teófila Vicente Herrero, a doctor specializing in Occupational Medicine,set of all environmental exposures The exposure of the individual from the moment of conception to the moment of death.”. It includes physical, chemical, biological, radiation, social factors or economic situation.

And science shows that knowing this environmental data is important because Non-genetic factors contribute to approximately 90% of the risk of chronic disease and It could be the second reason to reduce life years in Europe the most. And if we know its causes, we can lessen its impact.

There are two types of exposomes: public and private. Special, “lifestyle, tobacco use, diet type, physical activity and water consumption”; while about the general “environmental factors, climate change, green and urban environments, socioeconomic conditions of the population, traffic and heavy metal pollution”.

Of course, there will be many stimuli around us. we don’t even realize. So many that it must be very difficult to describe them all. However difficult it is, there are some researchers who suggest it. Miguel Atienza is an engineer and works with the Ministry of Health on a project of the Carlos III Institute. His team began developing an exposome-related data model.. Atienza explains that this data model allows information from mobile devices to be “transferred” to the healthcare system.

Precision and personalized medicine

Smart watches or bracelets, cell phones… All the technologies we can carry around help us measure the impact of exposure. This data can then be sent to the health center and the doctor treating us can have a more complete medical history.. That’s why Dr. Vicente believes that by targeting “specific individuals or population groups”, “more reliable recommendations for healthy habits” can be obtained. But the big discovery he thinks is “move towards a much more personalized and predictive medicine”.

Atienza said that “precision medicine”, but it goes even further and believes that “even the system itself” can “notify us” if it “detects” that we are traveling in an area that is risky to our health, and “automatic suggestions”. And all that data produces Big Data that “varys across space and time,” explains the engineer.

There are two obstacles this system faces forward: law and money. This data that companies collect is not free. Companies create devices that allow the environment to be analyzed. And they need to get their money before they can share it with the healthcare system.. Although technology does not come cheap, it will be at the service of health.

Also, to handle all private data, the law is quite restrictive. The ‘Radar Covid’ application showed that such software could be ineffective due to legal obstacles. The regulations provide for a set of conditions, including consent, which, if met, allows data to be processed so that the system can work if the person gives it. Facing ‘Covid Radar’, the exposome app will only need to collect one person’s information..