Newsletter
Longitudinal Approaches are Best2025-02-10
“We are what we repeatedly do.”
—Aristotle
You can evaluate and even judge somebody based on a single interaction. But you really get to know them over time. How stable they are, how they change from inside, how they react to various external circumstances. That holds true for personal relationships and business relationships. It holds true for medicine in general, and psychiatry in particular.
Biologically, your genes are not your destiny. Looking at dynamic biomarkers repeatedly, over time, whether they be glucose and hemoglobin A1C for diabetes, or the RNA blood biomarkers we have developed for various psychiatric disorders, is more informative than looking at DNA. Our biomarker panels are contained in our MindX One liquid biopsy.
Socially, people may or may not behave and react differently over time, in different circumstances and environments. We have developed Life x Improve, a simple digital tool, for that.
Psychologically, stress, pain, anxiety, mood, cognition, may stay at certain levels or come and go. We have developed Life x Mind, a simple app for that.
It is important to measure and track all these over time to best understand somebody. Blood tests twice a year, social factors screening 4 times a year, and psychological measures twice a day for two weeks initially, then at least once a week, can really help with an accurate diagnosis, personalized treatment plan, and monitoring of response to treatment!