If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us one thing, it is that it is far better to prevent a disease than try to treat it. In 2022, we will build on this insight to deal with other “pandemics” of disease – obesity, heart disease, cancer and dementia – which we can now address by investing in prevention through the intelligent use of science.
Wellness – feeling healthy with an apparent lack of symptoms of disease – is a self-determination made without true knowledge of the state of our bodies. For most of human history, that was all we had to go on. We only went to the doctor when we seemed unwell. Now, health professionals can tell us if we are disease-free or not, when we cannot do so for ourselves. Research we have done over several years at Human Longevity and at the Venter Institute has shown through MRI scans that three per cent of individuals over 50 have a significant tumour of which they were unaware. The majority of those, including myself, are now cancer free, more than five years after diagnosis and treatment. This is the likely maximum lifespan I would have had, had my cancer not been detected when it was.
Next year, MRI scans will become even more powerful when combined with new computer algorithms that post-process the raw MRI data. This will allow us to detect even smaller tumours, particularly when coupled with new lab tests that can recognise tumour DNA in someone’s blood before they become visible. In 2022, these new tests will even indicate from which organ the DNA came. The combination of MRI with circulating tumour DNA tests will begin to replace mammograms for breast cancer – removing exposure to dangerous radiation, improving both safety and breast-cancer diagnosis.
We will also be able to detect cases of Alzheimer’s disease a lot earlier. Increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s can be, in part, predicted from the genetic code but, without other information, those predictions are not diagnostic. In 2022, genome tests will be combined with MRI brain scans, which can reveal early brain deterioration, and PET scans, which can detect the amount of amyloid in the brain. Human Longevity has been able to detect early Alzheimer’s disease prior to the onset of symptoms. Numerous studies have shown that changes in brain activity, diet and preventive pharmaceuticals enable the slowing of disease progression. MRI brain scans have also proved to have an unexpected benefit. One per cent of all “healthy” tested individuals had a brain aneurysm, something usually only discovered when someone has a massive brain bleed.
In 2022, we will combine human genomics with extensive phenotype data – such as whole-body MRI scans, metabolomics, microbiome data, blood DNA cancer tests and data from wearable diagnostic devices – to make the practice of medicine much more predictable, thereby preventing disease. It will be up to us humans to acknowledge that we don’t always know when we are unwell and to make use of the continuous improvements in diagnostic tools that the world now offers us.
Get more expert predictions for the year ahead. The WIRED World in 2022 features intelligence and need-to-know insights sourced from the smartest minds in the WIRED network. Available now on newsstands, as a digital download, or you can order your copy online.
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
