Time for new guidelines in advanced healthcare: the mission of The EPMA Journal to promote an integrative view in predictive, preventive and personalized medicine

Predictive, preventive and personalized medicine (PPPM) offers great promise for the future practice of medicine. Essential components of this approach include well-organized population screening protocols utilizing novel diagnostic biomarkers of disease states, targeted prevention of common human pathologies, optimal treatment planning and personalized medicine thereby resulting in a substantial improvement in the quality of life. This approach also offers the advantage of delivering care at potentially reduced costs to the population at large, thereby addressing social and ethical issues related to access to and affordability of healthcare. A broad distribution and a routine clinical utilization of advanced technological approaches could enable a significant portion of the population to reach and exceed 100 years of age yet remaining vibrant and in excellent physical and mental health as actively contributing members of society. One of the central issues discussed is the screening for predisposition of healthy individuals to potential pathologies later in life. The groups at risk identified within the general population can be given a fair chance of a focused diagnosis with multidisciplinary expertise and well-timed preventive measures. The reliability of the blood-tests proposed, potential application to clinical routines, enormous economic and social impacts of the new generation of molecular- and nanotechnology-based diagnostic approaches - are all discussed in The EPMA Journal.As a consequence of the accumulating clinical data and knowledge about the epidemiology and pathological mechanisms of the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality, we are currently reconsidering our view of the origins and progression of cardiovascular, oncologic and neurodegenerative diseases. The majority of these pathologies are of chronic nature: they progress from precursor lesions over one or even several decades of life until a diagnosis is made that is often too late for