The 6 Most Exciting Medical Technology Breakthroughs Of Recent Years
Amidst the flurry of hyped technologies, it’s not easy to pinpoint which specific technological breakthroughs will have the most impact in the coming years. Dr. Meskó, The Medical Futurist, reviews multiple reports, studies, and articles daily. Consequently, our days are filled with awe-inspiring developments. However, our aim here is to offer more than just a compilation of “wow, look how fascinating” stories. To achieve this, we have selected technologies that: Have undergone significant breakthroughs in recent years, be it in regulatory, technological, or scientific aspects Are anticipate...
Source: The Medical Futurist - January 9, 2024 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF artificial intelligence digital health future Healthcare Source Type: blogs

mRNA Vaccines: From Tackling A Pandemic To Treating Cancer
The story of the multi-decade uphill battle Katalin Karikó and her fellow researchers fought to prove messenger RNA can viably be used in medicine is widely known today. In just as little as two years, the world has learned about mRNA technology and how fast it can react when the need arises holding almost unlimited promises in future applications. As always is the case with “instant hits” in science, the ride was actually very long and bumpy, but more on that later.  What is mRNA? In very simple terms: messenger ribonucleic acids (or mRNAs in short) are the body’s natural way to transport messages from o...
Source: The Medical Futurist - July 12, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Forecast Biotechnology Future of Medicine Nanotechnology cancer cancer research covid19 vaccine research HIV mRNA messenger RNA cancer vaccine malaria malaria vaccine HIV vaccine pancreatic cancer pancreatic cancer va Source Type: blogs

mRNA Vaccines: From Tackling Pandemic To Treating Cancer
The story of the multi-decade uphill battle Katalin Karikó and her fellow researchers fought to prove messenger RNA can viably be used in medicine is widely known today. In just as little as two years, the world has learned about mRNA technology and how fast it can react when the need arises holding almost unlimited promises in future applications. As always is the case with “instant hits” in science, the ride was actually very long and bumpy, but more on that later.  What is mRNA? In very simple terms: messenger ribonucleic acids (or mRNAs in short) are the body’s natural way to transport messages from o...
Source: The Medical Futurist - July 12, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Forecast Biotechnology Future of Medicine Nanotechnology cancer cancer research covid19 vaccine research HIV mRNA messenger RNA cancer vaccine malaria malaria vaccine HIV vaccine pancreatic cancer pancreatic cancer va Source Type: blogs

Fighting Fake Drugs With Miniscule Printed Watermarks: An Ingenious Idea
It is extremely difficult to tell how many people lose their lives due to counterfeit drugs every year globally. Estimates vary between hundreds of thousands to over a million. No matter which figure is correct, falsified medication and substandard drugs are causing significant losses in human lives. The share of counterfeit drugs is around 10% globally. It is as high as 30% in some countries, while it stays below 1% in others. I am sure you can guess that the one-digit numbers belong to the richest countries, while the big figures are typical in Sub-Saharan Africa. But before you lean back assured, let me remind you: f...
Source: The Medical Futurist - March 22, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Forecast Future of Pharma fake drugs counterfeit medicine watermarks QR code substandard drugs Source Type: blogs

Fighting Fake Drugs With Miniscule Printed Watermarks: A Genius Idea
It is extremely difficult to tell how many people lose their lives due to counterfeit drugs every year globally. Estimates vary between hundreds of thousands to over a million. No matter which figure is correct, falsified medication and substandard drugs are causing significant losses in human lives. The share of counterfeit drugs is around 10% globally. It is as high as 30% in some countries, while it stays below 1% in others. I am sure you can guess that the one-digit numbers belong to the richest countries, while the big figures are typical in Sub-Saharan Africa. But before you lean back assured, let me remind you: f...
Source: The Medical Futurist - March 22, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Forecast Future of Pharma fake drugs counterfeit medicine watermarks QR code substandard drugs Source Type: blogs

How Do We Know If COVID Is Over?
Is it the end of COVID? – we hear this very question more and more often these days. This topic has been analysed over and over in the past two years, I also wrote about it more than once. Here, at the beginning, we outlined possible scenarios on how the pandemic will develop. By now we can determine that we ended up somewhere between #2 and #3. We also discussed how widespread vaccination is the way to go, and how it will contribute to getting back our lives. The speculation on finally getting over it is not surprising. It is in line with recent reports, and the discussion about the pandemic entering the endem...
Source: The Medical Futurist - March 15, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Covid-19 public health covid19 pandemic endemic end of covid Source Type: blogs

Will Microbes Finally Force Modernization of the American Health Care System?
Mike Magee MD Science has a way of punishing humans for their arrogance. In 1996, Dr. Michael Osterholm found himself rather lonely and isolated in medical research circles. This was the adrenaline-infused decade of blockbuster pharmaceuticals focused squarely on chronic debilitating diseases of aging. And yet, there was Osterholm, in Congressional testimony delivering this message: “I am here to bring you the sobering and unfortunate news that our ability to detect and monitor infectious disease threats to health in this country is in serious jeopardy…For 12 of the States or territories, there is no one w...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 14, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Public Health Healthcare system infectious diseases microbes Mike Magee Source Type: blogs

Reflections on HIV
My post yesterday on the lunkhead senator from Wisconsin inspired some thoughts about Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the disease it causes, called Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS. The syndrome got its name before the viral cause was discovered, which is why it ' s called a syndrome, the word for a collection of symptoms when the cause is unknown or unspecified. It might be better to call the disease simply HIV disease, as it can have symptoms other than immunodeficiency, and many people nowadays do just that. I spent much of my career in public health, and then in academic research, focusing on HIV....
Source: Stayin' Alive - December 7, 2021 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Malaria Vaccine May Not Eliminate Need to Combat Counterfeit Medicines
The newly announced malaria vaccine could be a critical tool to combat the tremendous socioeconomic burden malaria causes. But global achievements in reducing malaria cases and deaths in the past decades may be in danger of significant reversal if the problem of counterfeiting continues. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - November 8, 2021 Category: Health Management Authors: Samantha McBirney; Krishna B. Kumar; Todd A. Richmond Source Type: blogs

Yes this is a BFD
 And it comes with a good wisecrack from Matthew Yglesias.  "Terrible news for the people of Africa, who must now face the oppression and lost liberty that comes with vaccine development. " Malaria kills more than 260,000 African children every year (I wonder if the Right to Life movement has noticed this?) and about as many adults. It also chronically debilitates many adults and does immense economic harm. Treatment resistant strains are a growing problem. The vaccine is perhaps not as highly effective as we would hopebut it makes a big difference. Strong safety profile: To date, more than 2....
Source: Stayin' Alive - October 7, 2021 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

IBM ’ s Moonshot Ambition In Healthcare
This article is a part of our series Tech Giants In Healthcare. Previous titles included Amazon’s Dive Into Healthcare: A 2021 UpdateIs Apple Going Into Healthcare?Google’s Masterplan for HealthcareMicrosoft Makes a 16-billion Dollar Bet On Healthcare Take a deeper dive into what these companies aim for in medicine with our e-book, Tech Giants In Healthcare. Back in 2015, IBM’s previous CEO, Virginia Rometty famously said that IBM’s “moon shot will be the impact we have on healthcare.” Under the Watson Health banner, the tech company has been leveraging its expertise in cognitive computing to a...
Source: The Medical Futurist - August 9, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Pranavsingh Dhunnoo Tags: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Digital Health Research Future of Medicine Future of Pharma Health Sensors & Trackers Healthcare Design Personalized Medicine Portable Medical Diagnostics IBM ibm watson xprize A.I. quantum compu Source Type: blogs

Sickle cell disease in newborns and children: What families should know and do
If you’ve learned that your newborn or young child has sickle cell disease, you — and other family members and friends — may have many questions. These days, most cases of sickle cell disease in the US are diagnosed through newborn screening. It’s important to make the diagnosis early, so that babies can be started on penicillin (or another antibiotic) to prevent infection. Getting connected early to a pediatrician for primary care — and to specialists in blood disorders who can work closely with the child as they grow, and with their families — can help prevent complications of the disease. The basics Hemoglob...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - May 6, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Claire McCarthy, MD Tags: Children's Health Genes Health care disparities Parenting Source Type: blogs

Last Christmas – a short story
Last Christmas by David Bradley (PDF/Kindle version here) Funnily enough, it was four years to the day since the fourth variant had emerged. So, it was Christmas Day. Four years since the death toll passed 200 million. What a gift. Four years since the last dying embers of the theory of herd immunity had burned out and even the rich and the beyond-rich were suffering. Four years. It’s hard to believe. What started as a very localised outbreak, with a mere handful of hospitalisations had quickly thrown the global community into panic and ultimately pandemic. The present that keeps on giving. Each genetic mutation unwrappi...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - December 29, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs

Last Christmas – a Xmas Gothic
Last Christmas by David Bradley (PDF/Kindle version here) Funnily enough, it was four years to the day since the fourth variant had emerged. So, it was Christmas Day. Four years since the death toll passed 200 million. What a gift. Four years since the last dying embers of the theory of herd immunity had burned out and even the rich and the beyond-rich were suffering. Four years. It’s hard to believe. What started as a very localised outbreak, with a mere handful of hospitalisations had quickly thrown the global community into panic and ultimately pandemic. The present that keeps on giving. Each genetic mutation unwrappi...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - December 29, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs

What infectious diseases are due to be eradicated next?
  Although Medical Science aims to eradicate Infectious Diseases in order to protect life and reduce the healthcare burden, it has only been able to achieve that goal against two diseases to date. While this remains a difficult task, there is a genuine possibility that additional diseases will be eliminated in the near future! Let’s explore the diseases that have been consigned to history…and those that are set to join them soon. Smallpox: declared eradicated in 1980 Following a concentrated global effort spanning more than 20 years, Smallpox became the first infectious disease to be eradicated by mankind.  S...
Source: GIDEON blog - December 23, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Epidemiology News Source Type: blogs