Health horizons
Healthcare is getting personal
We are entering a new era of personalised medicine which identifies individual risk and provides targeted information to protect against ill health.
There is no doubt that health messages based on large population studies have helped millions of people live longer, healthier lives. But we all know that one size doesn’t fit everyone.
A generalised approach can be a barrier to engagement because it’s difficult to follow advice that doesn’t feel relevant.
It could also mean that key issues based on our individual genetic inheritance are missed.
Better outcomes
Providing more targeted health care and support for teams, or personalised prevention as it is often described, delivers better outcomes because it factors in individual risks and lifestyles.
This makes sound business sense.
For employers, this could mean reduced sickness absence, increased productivity across the workforce and potential cost efficiencies due to insurance premium tax savings.
The World Economic Forum has highlighted the business benefits of investing in the health of your workforce, pointing out, “An extensive pool of research demonstrates that a healthy workforce generates fewer health costs and higher productivity.1"
Business metrics
“Many studies connect employee health and wellbeing to business metrics suggesting that poor employee health and wellbeing can heighten costs and reduce revenue.”
So how can businesses provide more prevention-focused support and achieve these gains?
Dr Rishi Patel, Bupa’s Head of Health Services Proposition and former NHS public health doctor says, “Until recently, health advice has not included a vital piece of the puzzle because it has been based on large epidemiological studies and did not factor in our genetics.
“The unique DNA code we inherit from our parents, influences our risk of disease, reaction to infection, response to medicines, anatomy and behaviour — pretty much every aspect of our health and wellbeing.2”
Unlocking opportunities
“And we are unlocking an increasing number of opportunities to tap into this potentially life-changing and life-saving information.”
Mapping the human genome, and learning more about our genetic inheritance — and the way it is impacted by environmental factors such as diet, lifestyle and our exposure to toxins, infections and other pathogens which drive disease — is at the heart of this shift towards more targeted healthcare.
We are only beginning to explore the benefits of personalised medicine, but it has already revolutionised cancer care by allowing doctors to look at someone’s inherited risk of developing many cancers and provide more effective, targeted therapies.3
This ensures the best use of both new medicines and long-standing therapies and avoids unnecessary treatment and potential side effects from chemotherapy drugs.4 This improves each patient’s experience and has led to a huge improvement in survival.
Official statistics confirm that although cancer rates are rising with our ageing population, earlier diagnosis and better treatment has seen the number of people dying from cancer fall by 37% in men and 33% in women over the past 25 years.5
Cost of absence
And employees often need less time off work for treatment or to recover from its side-effects.
With a study in the British Medical Journal estimating that, for breast cancer alone, work absence for chemotherapy costs the UK economy £133.6 million a year, the potential savings are enormous.6
Rishi says, “Genomic medicine also delivers significant wins around identifying those most at risk of cancer, heart disease and other life-limiting conditions.”
Screening to look for specific genes — such as BRCA variants which increase the risk of breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers7 — is expanding rapidly as the cost of these tests come down and the number of known variants increases.
Knowledge is power as screening allows people who have a problematic variant to consider preventative surgery, which cut the odds of developing breast cancer by 90-95%,8 or having more frequent checks to catch any cancer at the earliest opportunity.
Reduces fear
Rishi says, “This reduces fear and uncertainty for the individuals affected, and will reduce absence for diagnostic investigations and treatment.”
Other targets for screening include genes which cause high cholesterol, even in super-fit athletes,9 and variants which increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes.10
One in 250 people carries the gene associated with familial hypercholesterolemia, although most don’t realise they are at risk.11 And as FH doesn’t always respond to commonly prescribed statins an accurate diagnosis ensures the most effective treatment.12
Huge potential
As well as these tests for specific genes, there is huge potential for disease prevention using the ever-improving science of polygenic risk scoring (PRS).”
This form of genetic screening looks for genes which are known to influence the risk of various diseases.
Complex algorithms are then used to calculate the combined impact of these gene variants to predict an individual’s risk of a growing number of conditions — and identify proactive measures to reduce it.
Rishi says, “Genetic screening is the future, and it will provide more and more opportunities to provide tailored advice and build healthier, happier teams.
“Most of us know what we should be doing to stay healthy, yet that doesn’t always provide the motivation to make positive changes.”
“But knowing you are at increased risk of a particular health problem provides a powerful incentive to do something about it.”
Bupa has the services and resources needed to deliver tailored health support which will drive engagement and help your teams to live healthier, happier lives.
2 https://www.cdc.gov/genomics-and-health/about/index.html#
3 https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/targeted-therapies#
4 https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/12/nhs-cancer-patients-genetic-test/
5 https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2023-076962
6 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/1/e039412
8 https://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/surgery/mastectomy/types/prophylactic
