Patient-centered care: antecedents, triggers, and mediators

Area of Science:

• Integrative and Functional Medicine
• Systems Biology in Health and Disease
• Personalized Medicine Approaches

Background:

• Conventional medicine often adopts a disease-centered model.
• Functional medicine offers a patient-centered alternative, integrating modern clinical science.
• Understanding disease pathogenesis requires examining antecedents, triggers, and mediators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a structure for patient-centered diagnosis and treatment.
• To highlight the role of antecedents, triggers, and mediators in individualizing care.
• To emphasize the importance of diet, nutrition, and environmental factors in functional medicine.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a patient-centered diagnostic model.
• Analyzing genetic and acquired predispositions (antecedents).
• Identifying factors provoking illness (triggers) and modulating pathology (mediators).

Main Results:

• Conventional diagnoses are insufficient for personalized care.
• Functional medicine identifies disturbances common in chronic illness.
• Diet, nutrition, and toxins significantly influence illness and mediators.

Conclusions:

• Personalized therapy targets individual antecedents, triggers, and mediators.
• Patient beliefs and self-efficacy are crucial for self-care and healing.
• Enhancing patient self-efficacy through education and collaboration is a key goal.