Kneeling is a human position in which the weight is distributed on the knees and feet on a surface close to horizontal. The position of kneeling may be assumed for practical reasons and for reasons of social or religious custom. Kneeling makes it easier to reach the ground. For example, during gardening, kneeling gives less strain to one's back than bending. Various knee pads and knee mats are sold to make kneeling during gardening more comfortable. A kneeled person is less visible from the distance. For example, in an ambush, one may go from kneeling to sitting in a kind of seiza and back, e.g., to peek out. Kneeling position also provides more stability due to lower center of gravity. Socially, kneeling, similarly to bowing, is associated with reverence, submission and obeisance, particularly if one kneels before a person who is standing or sitting: the kneeling position renders a person defenseless and unable to flee. For this reason, in some religions, in particular by Christians and Muslims, kneeling is used as a position for prayer, as a position of submission to God. In north Indian Hindu temples, many Hindus kneel before the icon after saying a short personal prayer, and usually touch the ground with their forehead. This is a contrast to south Indian temples, where most people prostrate completely before the icon. In many churches, pews are equipped with kneelers in front of the seating bench so members of the congregation can kneel on them instead of the floor. In a few other situations such as confessionals and areas in front of an altar, kneelers for kneeling during prayer or sacraments may also be used. Within Roman Catholicism, it is traditional to kneel on the left knee for persons of distinction such as Kings, the Pope, Bishops, etc., to kneel on the right knee for the Eucharist, when it is in the tabernacle, and to kneel on both knees when the Eucharist is exposed. Confirmation candidates sometimes kneel before a sitting bishop on both knees to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation and a blessing. Candidates during Holy Orders will also kneel on both before a bishop or archbishop. Sometimes penitents will kneel during confession to a priest. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the act of kneeling, in the sense of standing on one's knees is not traditionally performed. Instead, there are several types of bows and prostrations. However, at his ordination, a deacon will kneel on one knee to the side of the altar, while the bishop lays his hands on the deacon's head to read the Prayer of Cheirotonia over him. A priest will kneel in the same manner at his ordination, but on both knees; and a bishop kneels on both knees in front of the altar as the Gospel Book is laid over his head and the consecrating bishops read the prayer.

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Personalized Medicine

Personalized medicine is a medical model emphasizing the systematic use of information about an individual patient to select or optimize that patient's preventative and therapeutic care. Personalized medicine is the products and services that leverage the science of genomics and proteomics and capitalize on the trends toward wellness and consumerism to enable tailored approaches to prevention and care. Over the past century, medical care has centered on standards of care based on epidemiological studies of large cohorts. Personalized medicine seeks to provide an objective basis for consideration of such individual differences. Traditionally, personalized medicine has been limited to the consideration of a patient's family history, social circumstances, environment, and behaviors in tailoring individual care. Personalized medicine uses new methods of molecular analysis to manage a patient’s disease or predisposition toward a disease. It aims to achieve optimal medical outcomes by helping physicians and patients choose the disease management approaches likely to work best in the context of a patient’s genetic and environmental profile. Such approaches may include genetic screening programs that more precisely diagnose diseases and their sub-types, or help physicians select the type and dose of medication best suited to a certain group of patients. Personalized medicine is an extension of traditional approaches to understanding and treating illness. Since the beginning of the study of medicine, physicians have employed evidence found through observation to make a diagnosis or to prescribe treatment. In the modern concept of personalized medicine, the tools provided to the physician are more precise, probing not just the obvious, such as a tumor on a mammogram or cells under a microscope, but the very molecular makeup of each patient. Looking at the patient on this level helps the physician get a profile of the patient’s genetic distinction, or mapping. By investigating this genetic mapping, medical professionals are then able to profile patients, and use the found information to plan a course of treatment that is much more in step with the way their body works. Genomic medicine and personalized medicine use genetic information to prevent or treat disease in adults or their children. Having a genetic map or a profile of a patient’s genetic variation can then guide the selection of drugs or treatment processes. This can minimize side effects or to create a strategy for a more successful outcome from the medical treatment. Helping the physician cover all the bases is imperative. Genetic mapping can also indicate the propensity to contract certain diseases before the patient actually shows recognizable symptoms, allowing the physician and patient to put together a plan for observation and prevention. Personalized medicine, when coupled with personal pharmacogenetics, is a unique approach that may be well suited for the health challenges we face in the new millennium. Although the medical and scientific communities, through research and discovery, got the upper hand over many of the diseases we have encountered since the advent of advanced medicine, many diseases that are more complicated. Diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s are caused by a combination of genetic and other factors. Coupled with the fact that they tend to be chronic, they place a significant burden on not only the patient, but on the healthcare system as a whole. Personalized medicine aims to provide the tools and knowledge to fight chronic diseases and treat them more effectively than ever before. Genetic profiles can help physicians to better discern subgroups of patients with various forms of cancer, in addition to other complex diseases, helping to guide doctors with accurate forms of predictive medicine and preventative medicine. With personalized medicine, the physician is intending to select the best treatment protocol or even, in many cases, avoid passing the expense and risks of unnecessary medical treatments on to the patient altogether. In addition, personalized medicine, when used correctly, aims to guide tests that detect variation in the way individual patients metabolize various pharmaceuticals. Personalized medicine is working to help determine the right dose for a patient, helping to avoid hazards based on familial history, environmental influences, and genetic variation.