Medical advances you could expect in 2017
Future and Hope are two words that are more entwined with each other than most other words. And in no other field is this more evident than medicine, where the difference between hope and the lack of it could be the line that divides life from death.
So, keeping to the idea of hope, here are some key medical advances to expect in 2017.
Diabetes drugs which bring down cardiovascular disease and death
About half of the patients with Type 2 diabetes meet their death due to complications from cardiovascular diseases. And once they reach the age of 65, the odds for this go up to 70 percent.
However, in 2016, the mortality rates were reduced considerably- at least in the western world by the introduction of two medicines, Empagliglozin and Liraglutide. Many experts have taken heart from this positive advancement and see 2017 as the year that would see a total shift in the medicines that are prescribed for diabetes.
Cellular immunotherapy for treating lymphomas and leukemia
Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies refer to the kind of immunotherapy by which a patient’s immune system T-cells get removed and are genetically re-programmed to seek out and eliminate tumor cells. The results for this have been impressive and certain studies that focus on acute lymphoblastic leukemia even reported a 90 percent remission rate.
It’s widely expected that cellular immunotherapy would one day replace chemotherapy. Whether 2017 is the year that happens or not remains to be seen.
3D visualization for surgery
In 2016, some of the most intricate surgical fields including retinal microsurgery and neurosurgery experimented using technology that immersed surgeons in a 3D visual representation of their subject while performing surgeries. Moreover, these systems used data to create visual templates that helped the surgeons perform certain important tasks.
It’s said that the extra comfort and the visual information which the technology brings would help surgeons operate more efficiently. Many hospitals would see this technology being adopted in 2017.
Analyzing gut biome to go popular?
The genetic information carried in the microbes in a human body is already considered to play crucial role in healing, metabolism and immunity. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus about what exactly a healthy biome looks like but research is gravitating in that direction. Using microbes as a denominator of people’s health seems to be a trend in the making.
Translational medicine
That even though more big scientific discoveries are made these days than ever before, the doctor still faces the frustration of being able to do so little. In other words, there exists a significant gap between headline discoveries and what exactly a doctor can do.
Translational medicine is an emerging field of biomedical science which aims to bridge this gap. Experts including healthcare professionals, scientists, pharma companies and investors are all collaborating so that science can be better translated into solutions.
2017 could be the year that translational medicine finally comes of age. If that’s the case, we could see a more rapid shift towards precision medicine-taking into account genomics, epigenomics and environmental exposure.
Customized computer assisted medicine
This one comes as a no-brainer, at least so it feels.
It’s no secret that the trend of data from a person’s body being collected by wearable devices is on the upswing. There are already platforms- like IBM’s Watson which could correlate your personal data with big data available on the cloud. This means tailor-made advice for an individual could be delivered to him/her via an app. And with the aid of AI(Artificial Intelligence) the system would get smarter the more it learns about the individual, resulting in better solutions.
In psychology, trials of online avatars are being done to aid people with schizophrenia. Also, an immersive virtual reality therapy for those suffering from depression has also shown positive results.
Would ketamine replace morphine for acute pain?
This may depend-among many other things on the administrative decisions of different countries. But it’s well-proven that ketamine could be administered as a nasal spray to bring good pain relief. Ketamine is notorious as a street drug which sometimes induces hallucinations if taken in a higher dose. Perhaps it’s time that it made a better reputation as a medically beneficial anesthetic drug.
A proper treatment for dementia
Disappointment was rife when the trial on solanzumab, the injectable antibody didn’t yield the expected result. However, excitement surrounds the drug, brimonidine. Currently, the drug is used to bring down the eye pressure in glaucoma-reducing the amyloid protein in the retina. It’s hoped that a similar effect would be induced in the brain- toxic amyloid deposits are cited as reason for nerve damage and death which occur with Alzheimer’s disease.