How will the rapid technological developments that the world is witnessing today, and which will occur in the future - in addition to climate changes and extreme fluctuations in the global geopolitical landscape - affect our physical and psychological health 30 years from now.
How will our health be in 2050?
What diseases will infect humans at that time?
And how will medicine and treatment methods evolve as well?
Our health, treatment methods and diseases that will afflict us in the future will be affected by the tremendous developments that occur in the following sectors: big data and biometrics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, climate change, nanotechnology and nanorobots, genetic engineering and bioprinting, says American writer Matthew Williams in an article His was recently published by the "interestingengineering" platform.
100 billion connected devices in 2050
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) says that 90% of the world's population in 2050 - who will then number 9.73 billion people - will have access to the Internet in the middle of the century, and currently more than 4 billion out of 7.9 billion people around the world are now able to Access to the international network.
This means that there will be an increase of about 4 billion new Internet users, and the number of wireless devices connected to the Internet will increase significantly by 2050 to reach more than 100 billion devices, while the current number is about 22 billion devices.
If we add to the above hundreds of billions of cameras, sensors, and smart homes, and if we imagine all of that, the amount of data that will be produced on a daily basis will be enormous by all standards, and a large part of it will be medical in nature, according to the same report.
In the future, all this data will be accessible to every person, and every individual will have his personal fingerprint of the data, as once people wake up from sleep, the health data of every person will be in front of his eyes, such as his heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature, and if There are risks and they will be alerted, and the doctor they deal with will automatically be informed of their health conditions that they may be exposed to.
A pivotal role for artificial intelligence
With the huge amount of health data, artificial intelligence will be used to analyze it, in search of any signs or health risks that humans may be exposed to, and artificial intelligence will help discover health problems in advance, and diagnose cases quickly and efficiently, as Dr. Liz Kao says in an article recently published on the website. "MobiHealth News" (mobihealthnews), where it discussed the ways and uses of artificial intelligence to improve health care, stressing that artificial intelligence is reshaping the entire health care sector in the world, and will have a pivotal role in the future.
The writer stresses that artificial intelligence systems will also be responsible for analyzing health patterns around the world to track epidemics and the spread of diseases, and research supported by artificial intelligence will lead to the development of new treatments and drugs for diseases much faster, which is why major pharmaceutical companies are already turning to Using artificial intelligence to aid drug discovery.
The more advanced artificial intelligence becomes, the faster and more effective will be the discovery of treatments and medicines for incurable diseases, which is why medicines and vaccines for diseases such as AIDS and some types of cancer are expected to be discovered much earlier than 2050.
The more advanced artificial intelligence becomes, the faster and more effective the discovery of treatments and drugs for incurable diseases will be (Getty Images)
Anti-aging and longevity
Besides eradicating disease, health will also improve in the middle of the century in two ways: first, through lower infant and child-birth mortality rates in the developing world, and second, longevity therapies that fight and reverse aging so that people live longer, healthier in the developed world.
In the normal aging process, over time, the repeating nucleotide sequences at the ends of linear chromosomes, known as telomeres, shrink.
This ultimately leads to cell damage and death, and the emergence of age-related diseases.
But with nanobots able to access chromosomes, telomeres can be periodically lengthened to slow aging and extend human life.
The average lifespan of humans is currently 72.6 years, and it will rise in 2050 to 115 years and more, due to nanorobots that will have a decisive role in combating diseases, aging and prolonging life, as researcher and writer Liz Stenson confirms in an article recently published on the Allure website. ).
Psychological and mental illness is the problem of the coming time
While health and longevity will be improved, and many of the deadly diseases now prevalent will be eradicated, new diseases will emerge to replace them, and environmental risks will lead to numerous health problems for humans.
By 2030, depression and mental illness are expected to overtake heart disease to become the world's largest health concern.
Among the most important factors in increasing these diseases are economic problems such as debt and unemployment, and social problems such as domestic violence and the pressures of living in cities, in addition to wars, environmental degradation and disasters.
Demographics change will also play a role, especially with regard to age.
According to the World Health Organization, the proportion of people aged 60 and over will double to two billion people in 2050, and about 20% of those will suffer from dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and others.
Depression will be the disease of the age in 2050, when it will dominate other diseases, however, advances in neuroscience, and great development in the discovery and manufacture of drugs will also mean that people suffering from depression will be able to obtain effective treatment.
The use of nanorobots is expected to spread tremendously (European)
With nanomedicine, there is no need for doctors
It is expected that health control methods will increase with the great development of electronics embedded inside the human body, which are microchips and electronic sensors that can be implanted inside the body to monitor heart rate, liver and kidney functions, digestive and respiratory systems, and brain activity in search of any risks that could pose a threat to health. humans are exposed to.
These same devices can also release drugs as needed, which will be especially useful for people suffering from diabetes and neurological disorders, as there are two types of these sensors, the first that monitors bodily functions, and the second that injects drugs to treat the detected defect.
It is expected that the use of nanobots will spread tremendously, which are very small robots that do not exceed a few microns in diameter, and they are the basis of what is known as nanomedicine, as the market value of nanomedicine is expected to reach 334 billion dollars in 2025, and 19 trillion dollars in 2050. .
Nanomedicine is expected to take many forms by the middle of the century, including nanosensors and nanorobots.
The nano-sensors will take the form of small machines equipped with radio emitters or spectrometers, and will be inserted inside the body to check the user's blood for signs of chemical imbalances, bacteria, viruses or cancer cells, and everything that could endanger human health.
Nanobots are likely to become the dominant means of delivering drugs to diseased tissues and cells, and nanoparticles containing bee venom have proven to be very effective in killing cancer cells without harming healthy cells, unlike chemotherapy that is used to fight cancer. .
The need for direct medical examinations and examinations will be reduced, as devices, applications and artificial intelligence will make new accurate examinations, and prescribe the appropriate treatment without the need to see a doctor, whose role will decline greatly in the future, and even in surgical operations, robots will do most of the work, if not all.
Blindness and hearing loss treatment
Organ industry such as artificial hands and feet will also develop, which will become lighter, and much more effective, especially with the development of cybernetics, and there will be ocular implants for patients who suffer from blindness, which means blindness can be cured once and for all, while cochlear implants and ear bones can treat hearing loss.
Genetic inducers, which rely on pulses of light to stimulate muscles, can treat muscle and soft tissue injuries that currently require years of surgery, physical therapy and pain relievers.
Perhaps the most important innovation is the neural implants, which are expected to be very common by the middle of the century, as these implants can be used to treat brain injuries and neurological diseases of all kinds.
In the coming decades, improvements in genome editing are expected to lead to massive changes in genetic engineering, meaning the eradication of many genetic diseases (Getty Images)
Gene editing and bioprinting
In 2012, one of the most important findings in the history of medicine and biology was reached when Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuel Charpentier published research indicating that a protein called Cas9 could be programmed using RNA, which opened the door. In front of genome editing, where it is possible to change the structure of DNA to remove or add new sequences.
In the coming decades, improvements in genome editing are expected to lead to massive changes in genetic engineering, meaning the eradication of many genetic diseases. Treating Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, paralysis and other previously incurable diseases.
Other treatment options that will become popular by the middle of the century include stem cell therapy. Stem cell pharmacies that distribute tissue therapies are expected to become commercially available in the developed world in 2030, offering targeted therapies to rejuvenate damaged body parts and organs.
The increasing availability of stem cells will also have major implications for 3D bioprinting, which involves using stem cells to manufacture biological materials, including replacement skin, bones, organs and body parts.
And yet, the most important and finest measure of civilization and the extent of human progress is how to improve human health and the ability to eliminate diseases and pains that have afflicted humans over thousands of years.
By 2050, we will have made amazing progress, cured some of the deadliest diseases, and improved the quality of life for billions of people around the world… The way we treat the sick and injured is the finest way for humanity to find itself again.