New medical big data for P4 medicine on allergic conjunctivitis

Abstract

Allergic conjunctivitis affects approximately 15-20% of the global population and can permanently deteriorate one's quality of life (QoL) and work productivity, leading to societal work force costs. Although not fully understood, allergic conjunctivitis is a multifactorial disease with a complex network of environmental, lifestyle, and host contributory risk factors. To effectively enhance the quality of treatment for patients with allergic conjunctivitis, as well as other allergic diseases, the field must first comprehend the pathology underlying various individualized subjective symptoms and stratify the disease according to risk factors and presentations. Such competent stratification and societal reconstruction that targets the alleviation of the damage due to allergic diseases would greatly help ramify personalized treatments and prevent the projected increase in societal costs imposed by allergic diseases. Owing to the rapid advancements in the information and technology sector, medical big data are greatly accessible and useful to decipher the pathophysiology of many diseases. Such data collected through multi-omics and mobile health have been effective for research on chronic diseases including allergic and immune-mediated diseases. Novel big data containing vast and continuous information on individuals with allergic conjunctivitis and other allergic symptoms are being used to search for causative genes of diseases, gain insights into new biomarkers, prevent disease progression, and, ultimately, improve QoL. The individualized and holistic data accrued from new angles using technological innovations are helping the field realize the principles of P4 medicine: predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory medicine.

Keywords: Allergic conjunctivitis; Mobile health; Multi-omics; P4 medicine; Patient and public involvement.