Healthcare predictions for 2020 • Digital medicine, Genetic medicine: local specialist tells us what he expects to see in 2020 |17 January 2020
Econsultancy
As the new year begins and we look ahead, Seychelles NATION spoke to Dr Miodrag Todorovic, founder of Panafricare Clinic, to share his predictions for the healthcare industry in the coming year and beyond, with a particular focus on those that will impact our local population.
It appears that improvement to care-models will be made by focusing on accessibility, prediction and prevention, while technology paves the way. Following are some of Dr Todorovic’s predictions.
Digital medicine
A number of emerging technologies will gain prominence in healthcare this year, including those that will allow patients to be directly involved in gathering important data about their health.
For example, some health monitoring systems will see patients wearing / using various software when at home or even overseas which will enable healthcare professionals to continuously monitor and analyse their conditions and critical points. This data will feed into each patient’s health records, and caregivers / doctors will then be able to intervene and respond more quickly.
At Panafricare Clinic, doctors are already making use of digital stethoscopes which have numerous advantages over traditional ones, including their ability to record acoustic information from the body by anyone and with data backed up online. The information can later be interpreted by your doctor. These digital stethoscopes also make use of modern earphones with better sound clarity
Genetic medicine
For this year, we expect to see major applications of genetics in medicine. Through the use of genetics, potentially ‘bad’ genes will be identified and be blocked to either prevent, reduce the risk or halt the progress of an illness.
For example, treatments for cancer could be detected through genetics whereby the gene responsible for the development of the cancer can be blocked.
At Panafricare Clinic, there is already a focus on digital and genetic medicine; according to Dr Todorovic, they will be the first in Seychelles to provide genetic counselling services, starting this year.
Immunotherapy in cancer treatments
The treatment for cancer is changing significantly. We will see the use of immunotherapy as a treatment for cancer, replacing current and existing cytotoxic treatments. This year, there will be much more progress in this area; it will be a revolution.
Immunotherapy involves the use of antibodies to target the cancer cells and destroy them like it would in a normal immune response to bacteria and viruses. This is an advantage as this type of treatment does not target healthy cells like chemotherapy does.
Stem cell therapy
In 2020, we can expect to see more use of stem cell therapy globally. This involves the use of undifferentiated cells which have the potential to develop and mature into a specific cell type such as neurons. This form of therapy has the potential to regenerate tissues in the body which have been damaged and are otherwise deemed incurable.
For more information, visit Panafricare Clinic, Le Chantier Mall, Victoria or contact the Clinic:
- Telephone: 4 321 310
- Email: info@panafricare.com
- Follow ‘Panafricare Clinic by Dr. Todorovic’ on Facebook
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