Top Researchers Offer 4 Exciting Medical Predictions

It’s an exciting time to be alive. We’re seeing some amazing medical breakthroughs, with plenty more advancements on the horizon. Some of the top researchers in their fields have shared their predictions, and the future of medicine looks bright.

Lifesaving Heart Advances

Heart attacks strike 735,000 people each year in the U.S., killing 610,000 of them. 210,000 of those had suffered at least one previous heart attack. Heart disease kills one in four people, making it the leading cause of death. 

Professor Metin Avkiran, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, envisions a future in which research on genetics will have taken heart disease treatment to a new level. He believes there will be a day when we can predict which lifestyle factors are most important to different genetic predispositions. There may also be a day when we can test for heart disease risk using blood or urine samples. Professor Avkiran also believes regenerative medicine may someday allow doctors to reprogram scar tissue back into healthy tissue, offering new life to previous heart attack victims.

Home Help

Independent living, both for the elderly and the intellectually or physically challenged, can pose many difficulties. The majority of disabled young people require continued help well into adulthood, whereas the elderly generally end up in skilled nursing facilities or housing with varying degrees of independence. This poses unique challenges in housing and home care.

Sebastian Conran, leading consumer product designer and co-founder of Consequential Robotics, believes companion and assistive robots will solve some of these problems. MeRo, short for Memetic Robot, can perform tasks like searching for lost objects and giving pill reminders, and can also monitor a person to report emergencies. Conran sees a future in which robots are doing much more to help the elderly and disabled live more independent lives.

Diabetes Treatment

In the U.S. 1.5 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year. Last year, it cost Americans $327 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity. 

Dr. Emily Burns, research communications manager at Diabetes UK, believes advances in cell transplanting therapy—replacing beta cells, which cause immune responses leading to Type II diabetes, with healthy cells—could one day be a viable therapy. Currently, a transplant requires a donated healthy pancreas, but advancements in stem cell therapy could change that. 

Cutting Out Cancer

This year alone, 1,735,350 people in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer. An estimated 609,640 people will die from it. Last year, it cost Americans $147.3 billion, and those costs are only expected to rise. 

Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, believes immunotherapy will pave the way toward safer, more effective cancer treatments. Blood test diagnostics are likely to improve. Professor Johnson believes we can realistically improve cancer survival rates to 75% within the next twenty years. 

The Future of Medicine

Medical technology is booming, and promising advances are right around the corner. While no one can say for sure what the future holds, researchers are working to improve health and quality of life, one breakthrough at a time.