Mathematical modeling may improve health treatments

What is the maximum dose of a drug that will limit side effects to an acceptable level? How many patients would benefit from a treatment and how many would be harmed? Would the potential benefit of screening everyone for a disease outweigh the potential harm to people who receive unneeded care because of inaccurate results? These are common questions in modern medicine. Yet answering them often would require clinical trials that span decades. That's not practical or even feasible. Instead, researchers are turning to computer models, meshing math and biology to develop a better understanding of the effectiveness of diagnostic tests and treatments. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/6)