The next decade in medical advancements will be exciting as we see progress in robotic surgeries. Expansions in new procedures and genetic testing for medications to identify which drugs are more effective in the treatment of individual illnesses.

Medical Advances to Watch in the next Decade

1. Robotic procedures will make scares a thing of the past.  Keep your eyes open for the “snakelike robots” that will punch through the skin and advance into the body to preform surgical task.  These “snakelike robots” will be controlled by a computer and a joystick.  Surgery will be less invasive and recovery time will be faster and easier.
2. Medications specific for individual genome is already here. The scope in drugs tested will continue to grow.  Currently a provider swabs the inside of the patient’s mouth on the cheek.  The DNA sample is sent to a lab for testing to see which medications are more effective in the management in patient care.  This technology is helpful in the mental health arena in managing psychiatric illness such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.  The drug is tested on the individual’s DNA sample.  The testing shows which drugs are more effective for that person and which drugs should never be used on that patient.  Testing in this way will eliminate the guesswork that providers use in medical treatment.  The patient is given the drug most effective and safe for them. This eliminates harmful side effects and possible life-threatening drug reactions.  Imagine the time and money saved on getting the patient started on the right treatment for them from the start.
3. Destroying cancer cells with particle light accelerator and frequency waves.  Frequency waves were proven effective on cancer cells in 1973 using 434 MHz.  The cancer cells were destroyed leaving healthy cells unharmed. Physicist Robert Wilson, the founding director of Fermilab, proposed a different cancer treatment method when he published the article “Radiological Use of Fast Protons” in 1946. In the 1990s, Fermilab built the first proton accelerator dedicated to cancer treatment at a medical center.The physical properties of high-energy protons allow for a more targeted deposition of radiation than with x-rays.
4. Smaller diagnostic tools for practitioners to use in the doctor’s office.  Development of hand held scanners will be part of the health care providers tools used in diagnosing patient illnesses.  These hand held scanners are in the developmental stage now.  StarTrek diagnostic tools are no longer fiction.
5. Growing organs in the lab is not fiction.  Science has been growing ears on the backs of mice for years.  Using human genes to grow organs is being advanced in laboratories around the world.  The hope is that in the near future a human heart can be grown from the individuals genes.
6. Stem cell technology will be used more in repairing the heart after a heart attack.  It will become more of a common treatment than one to be used in the future.  Stem cell treatment is now being used in the repair of the human heart after a heart attack, but it’s most effective in patients who have had heart damage in less than two years.
7. Overall stem cell therapy will advance rapidly in the near future.  It’s being used in cancer treatment as well as regeneration of human tissue.  Stem cell therapy will be common treatment in anti-aging modalities. Given their unique regenerative abilities, stem cells offer new potential for treating diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
8. Nutritional advances will take center stage as science is able to see in real time how certain foods affect an individual’s body.  Food metabolism is not the same for every person.  Each person’s metabolism is unique to that individual and by being able to monitor how foods are metabolized, we will be able to tailor our diets for optimal health.
9. Cures for neurological diseases are on the horizon.  Stem cells offer the hope that they can be used to treat neurological conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Stem cells can be designed to repair and regrow the damaged neurons in an individual’s brain.
10. Nanotechnology is being perfected rapidly. Nanotechnology is being used for a variety age-reversing applications that could be literally a “new lease on life”.  Because the rate of cellular reconstruction slows down and the body isn’t able to keep up the maintenance, we age. “Subatomic robots” will go into our bloodstream and repair cellular damage. Nanotechnology treatments for other age-related disorders, such as macular degeneration, osteoporosis, arteriosclerosis, and cirrhosis are closer to being current treatment than we think.

The next decade in medical advancements indeed will be exciting to watch as it unfolds. In many cases, the future is here now. How we chose to maintain our health, will in effect determine the quality of life we will have.