Because the world is so vast and complicated, many of us miss key developments in technology. It just happens so fast. One minute something seems impossible, the next, a clever scientist or engineer has figured out how to do it.
Nowhere is this more true than in medical technology. Here the gains have been exceptional over the past ten years, and look like they will continue to improve tremendously in the future.
Anti-Aging Pills
Imagine if you could just pop a pill that would make your cells behave and become younger? It seems like science fiction. But it turns out that we are actually getting there.
Take NAD boosters, for instance. These supplements provide your body with precursors to a key energy molecule in the cell called NAD. When NAD levels are high, it increases your body’s ability to repair itself, preventing the aging process from the ground up. You can buy multiple NAD booster products, such as NR and NMN from companies today.
There is another class of supplements called senolytics on the market now too. These work in a different way from boosters. They contain plant-based compounds that help to clear your body of dangerous, malfunctioning cells. Once you clear them out, you reduce inflammation across the body, again slowing the rate of aging.
What’s exciting is that by combining these therapies, you can gain outsized effects.
Bionics That Allow People To Walk Again
Thanks to technology, top bionics companies are now able to create exoskeletons that allow people to walk again. These devices are benefiting from advances in motors, batteries and servos that industrial robots and cobots use to carry out their tasks. Suits will eventually connect to the nervous system and will hopefully allow people to retake control of paralyzed or severely injured limbs.
Gene Editing Medicine
Modern medicines usually just paper over symptoms and provide people with a higher quality of life for a while. But they don’t deal with the underlying causes of disease.
This is particularly true for genetic diseases. However, thanks to gene editing tools, it may now be possible to correct these defects and transform human life for the better. There are already technologies on the market that allow scientists to correct single-gene diseases. And in the future, we may see this extend to multi-gene therapies that help people become healthier in the long-term.
Nano Medicines
Another possible area of progress is in the realm of nano medicines. The idea is pretty simple. Make small, compact robots that fit inside pills and then program them to perform regenerative work in the body.
Already, robots exist that doctors guide through the bloodstream using CT scanning technology. But eventually, these devices could perform work by themselves. They could even replace certain tissues in the body, like the blood, enhancing performance.
The advances in medical technology are nothing short of breathtaking. However, most people aren’t aware yet of what is possible. That’s because it is taking a long time for legacy healthcare systems to adapt.