The Future of Medicine in 2031

Nov. 1, 2006 — -- The ABC News Medical Unit asked doctors and medical experts in a wide variety of specialties about advancements in their fields in the next 25 years. These are their predictions for diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, asthma and ophthalmology.

By C. RONALD KAHN, M.D., president, Joslin Diabetes Center

Twenty-five years from now, if we properly and adequately invest in research, approaches to prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications will be fundamentally different from those that exist today. These will provide completely new opportunities for prevention and treatment.

Prediction and prevention of type 1 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, will be a reality, through genetic and immune screening or screening of organs and tissues for molecules that can act against the self.

There will be genetic screening for those at risk for type 2 diabetes, which causes the body to not produce enough insulin, or the cells ignore the insulin, with opportunities for prevention. Drugs to decrease insulin resistance, which causes muscle, fat and liver cells to not use insulin properly, will be used for both treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes. In addition, genetic profiles for each individual will allow personalized treatment approaches that selectively target specific pathways or processes that are known to be involved in development of disease, as well as personalized approaches to improving nutrition (nutrigenomics).

By RONALD C. PETERSEN, M.D., director of the Mayo Alzheimer's Disease Research Center

Ultimately, Alzheimer's disease research is moving toward prevention. If we can identify patients before they develop symptoms and intervene with treatments, we may be able to prevent the disease before any damage is done to the nervous system.

Drugs and other treatments, like vaccines and immunotherapies, will be available to dramatically reduce or even interrupt Alzheimer's in the brain and body. It is likely that we will be able to tailor therapies and lifestyle alterations to an individual's likelihood of developing the disease.

All these efforts depend on continued growth in the investment in Alzheimer's disease research by the federal government, the medical industry and the Alzheimer's Association.