Clinical and Biomedical Applications of Proteomics

Abstract

The ultimate goal in medicine is to prevent disease, or cure disease when it appears but before any permanent damage has taken place or side effects become evident. Treatment of disease, if not curative, should provide palliative care and relieve the symptoms. The selection of preventive action or treatment choice rely on clear recognition of the precise disease status of the patient. Diagnostic, from the Greek word “diagnosticos”, means capable of recognition. A diagnostic procedure helps to establish a patient condition or diagnosis and to classify patients into categories. Patient diagnosis has to date been established through physicians taking patient histories and doing physical examinations, and then if needed through analyses such as blood tests and more sophisticated radiological procedures. Once a diagnosis has been established, the prognosis, from the Latin “prognosticus” meaning knowing in advance, must be defined to orientate the treatment decision.