A molecular injury-response model for the understanding of chronic disease

Over the past century, modern medicine has been remarkably effective in managing acute diseases. However, medical paradigms have been less successful in the understanding and treatment of chronic inflammatory and degenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis, connective-tissue disorders, chronic infections and chronic transplant rejection. Despite significant advances in biology over the past two decades, much of this knowledge has yet to be translated to medical practice. In this article, we propose a new framework for chronic disorders that could aid in the correlation of molecular, cellular and clinical data, leading to more rational treatments.