Topic: 7 Best Innovations in Health Care That Continue to Impress
The field of health care is dynamic and ever-evolving. As researchers learn more about the human body, medical innovations continue to emerge and impress.
New developments arise so quickly that it’s challenging to keep up with the latest ones. Here are seven examples of innovation in health care that continue to amaze.
1. Fitness for Every Body
Say goodbye to the one-size-poorly-fits-all exercise programs you learned in high school gym class. Today’s health care innovations include custom programs and gadgets that let everyone, even those with physical challenges, get in the game.
It’s no secret that Americans are getting bigger. While exercise is one way to combat obesity, many people who fall into this category struggle with mobility challenges, and standard equipment might not fit their bodies. Today, they can find high-weight-capacity elliptical machines and recumbent bikes to help them start shedding excess pounds.
Land-based exercises can challenge those with arthritis and other pain conditions. However, aquatic exercise can remedy this. Water’s density — 800 times that of air — combined with its ability to improve venous return and lymphatic pressure makes movement more comfortable for rheumatoid arthritis or diabetic neuropathy. Specialized lift machines can help those who struggle to enter the water safely.
The more researchers learn, the more they recognize exercise’s capacity to ease chronic pain and improve quality of life. New technologies that bring fitness to everyone do more than add years to lives by preventing and healing disorders like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. They also add life to those years.
2. Genetic Personalization
If you ever had a mental illness like anxiety or depression, you might be familiar with the medication shuffle. Because antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs need time to take effect, it takes four to six weeks before you can tell if a given prescription will work for your unique biology. If it doesn’t, you’ve just wasted a month and a half feeling unnecessarily miserable.
However, the modern magic of pharmacogenomics utilizes genetic testing to determine which medications will most likely benefit you, have no effect or cause adverse reactions. Your doctor can use blood testing or even a cheek swab to collect your DNA and perform the analysis. The result is enduring far less suffering while you and your health care team determine the best prescription treatment course.
Genetic testing can also advise you about your risk of developing particular disorders so you can take proactive steps to prevent their development. Many remember when celebrity Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy after learning she had a mutation in her BRCA1 gene tied to an elevated risk of breast cancer. While you may not decide to go to this extreme, you can take comfort in knowing your risks and options.
3. Telehealth Visits
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic probably made you think twice about visiting your doctor unless you were knocking on heaven’s door. While limited practitioners still make house calls, more physicians now embrace telemedicine’s power to bring the doctor’s visit to your living room. Recent government easements on restrictions on this care modality — paired with its cost-effectiveness — have made seeing your doctor by Zoom or Doxy something easy to do from your couch.
Topic Discussed: 7 Best Innovations in Health Care That Continue to Impress
