Using Patient Data to Democratize Medical Discovery - NYTimes.com

"Steven Keating, a graduate student at the MIT Media Lab and a brain cancer survivor, was the subject of an article this week, presented as a super data cruncher of his own patient information. The young scientist’s collection and analysis of his own data makes him an extraordinary exception today, but physicians and health care experts say he is a sprinter along a path others are walking — toward consumers taking a more active interest in gathering, studying and sharing their medical data. Better-informed patients, they say, are more likely to take better care of themselves, comply with prescription drug regimens and even detect early-warning signals of illness, as Mr. Keating did. But there is another big potential benefit of the wider use and sharing of patient information — medical research ..."