Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 19 (2):307-323 (2016)
Abstract |
The emerging concept of systems medicine is at the vanguard of the post-genomic movement towards ‘precision medicine’. It is the medical application of systems biology, the biological study of wholes. Of particular interest, P4 systems medicine is currently promised as a revolutionary new biomedical approach that is holistic rather than reductionist. This article analyzes its concept of holism, both with regard to methods and conceptualization of health and disease. Rather than representing a medical holism associated with basic humanistic ideas, we find a technoscientific holism resulting from altered technological and theoretical circumstances in biology. We argue that this holism, which is aimed at disease prevention and health optimization, points towards an expanded form of medicalization, which we call ‘holistic medicalization’: Each person’s whole life process is defined in biomedical, technoscientific terms as quantifiable and controllable and underlain a regime of medical control that is holistic in that it is all-encompassing. It is directed at all levels of functioning, from the molecular to the social, continual throughout life and aimed at managing the whole continuum from cure of disease to optimization of health. We argue that this medicalization is a very concrete materialization of a broader trend in medicine and society, which we call ‘the medicalization of health and life itself’. We explicate this holistic medicalization, discuss potential harms and conclude by calling for preventive measures aimed at avoiding eventual harmful effects of overmedicalization in systems medicine.
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DOI | 10.1007/s11019-016-9683-8 |
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References found in this work BETA
Fundamental Issues in Systems Biology.Maureen A. O'Malley & John Dupré - 2005 - Bioessays 27 (12):1270-1276.
The Need for a New Medical Model: A Challenge for Biomedicine.George L. Engel - 1977 - Science 196:129-136.
Ins and Outs of Systems Biology Vis-À-Vis Molecular Biology: Continuation or Clear Cut?Philippe De Backer, Danny De Waele & Linda Van Speybroeck - 2010 - Acta Biotheoretica 58 (1):15-49.
Getting Personal: Can Systems Medicine Integrate Scientific and Humanistic Conceptions of the Patient?Henrik Vogt, Elling Ulvestad, Thor Eirik Eriksen & Linn Getz - 2014 - Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 20 (6):942-952.
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Citations of this work BETA
Represent Me: Please! Towards an Ethics of Digital Twins in Medicine.Matthias Braun - 2021 - Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (6):394-400.
Aging Biomarkers and the Measurement of Health and Risk.Sara Green & Line Hillersdal - 2021 - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 43 (1):1-23.
Medicalization and Overdiagnosis: Different but Alike.Bjørn Hofmann - 2016 - Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 19 (2):253-264.
How to Distinguish Medicalization From Over-Medicalization?Emilia Kaczmarek - 2019 - Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 22 (1):119-128.
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