Newsletter
Psychiatry and Oncology2023-01-07
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small..”
—Lao Tzu
Psychiatry can learn from, and benefit by emulating, oncology.
First, a diagnosis of cancer is based on biology: symptoms, imaging, biopsy with molecular profiling. We cannot biopsy the brain in psychiatry, but nowadays can do liquid biopsies (blood tests).
Second, the treatment of cancer is personalized, based on the molecular profiling of the tumor. Matching patients to the right medications. We should, and nowadays can, do the same in psychiatry.
Third, surveillance, early targeted intervention, and ultimately, prevention, are the keys to winning the war on cancer. The same applies for psychiatric disorders and mental health. It is much better for a patient, and cheaper for society, than treating advanced, chronic, and refractory stages of the diseases. That is the approach we are working on at MindX Sciences.
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