We are pleased to launch the first issue of International Journal of Health Sciences. We hope scientific community will like it.
Medical science is entering a golden age. The secret to radically improved health care lies at the cellular level, ground zero for disease. The rapid pace of technological growth in the life sciences research enterprise reflects a revolutionary change in the way people interact with biological systems and a growing capacity to manipulate such systems. Such advancing technologies offer great promise for improving the quality of human life: promoting health, preventing disease, and ensuring adequate food and even the possibility of new energy sources.
The most significant areas of current and future research in life science include genomics, proteomics, image analysis, and bioinformatics. While genomics has present priority, proteomics represents the wave of the future.
Genetic analysis now can classify some conditions, like colon cancer and skin cancer, into finer categories. This is important since classifying diseases more precisely can suggest more appropriate treatments. The same approach will soon be possible for heart disease, schizophrenia, and many other medical conditions, as the genetic underpinnings for these diseases become more completely understood.
Genomics will hasten the advance of molecular biology into the practice of medicine. As the molecular foundations of diseases become clearer, we may be able to prevent them in many cases and in other cases, design accurate, individualized treatments for them. Genetic tests will routinely predict individual susceptibility to disease. Diagnoses of many conditions will be much more thorough and specific than now. New drugs, derived from a detailed molecular understanding of common illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure, will target molecules logically.
What will drug development look 20 years from now as the landscape in drug development is rapidly evolving. Within this rapidly evolving environment, new technologies are being developed that will likely change the face of drug discovery and development.
Pharmacogenomics describes the idea of tailoring drugs for patients, whose individual response can be predicted by genetic fingerprinting. Better understanding of genetics promises a future of precise, customized medical treatments.
Diagnosing ailments more precisely will lead to more reliable predictions about the course of a disease. Decades from now, many potential diseases may be cured at the molecular level before they arise.
In the near future, nanotechnology in the broad sense will continue to develop dozens of interesting technologies and capabilities, leading to hundreds of improved capabilities and applications. What is of paramount importance is translating knowledge into action.
This first issue is a humble beginning and we will strive hard to improve its quality in the subsequent issues. We would appreciate the comments and suggestions from our readers to help us raising its standard to make it a world class quality health sciences journal.