I'm particularly excited for the cancer vaccine trial results! I didn't realize that there were so many underway, and the hope that they will be broadly applicable is potentially the biggest thing since penicillin.
From the studies that I have read, I'm not so convinced that the malaria vaccine will pan out as well as hoped, but I'd be glad to be wrong about that. Prediction #3 only applies to the U.S., and I really wouldn't consider it a medical advance, more a common sense advance thankfully trumping politics, #4 is okay, and I wouldn't consider #5 a medical advance either, although increased access to medical care is good for lowering the overall economic burden on tax payers. It remains to be seen if people actually take advantage of better health care and maintain a healthier lifestyle to reduce health costs.
Great medical feats were accomplished in 2011. Dallas Wiens became the first recipient of a full-face transplant in the United States, Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords survived a gunshot to her brain, and HIV researchers found a way to lower an infected person's chance of transmitting the virus to sexual partners by 96 percent.
What significant advances can we expect in 2012? Here are five predictions, provided to MyHealthNewsDaily by experts in their fields.
Prediction 1: Medicine gets closer to treating cancer with vaccines.
Prediction 2: Malaria vaccine development will advance.
Prediction 3: Millions will breathe easier, thanks to new regulations.
Prediction 4: Many crucial drugs will become cheaper.
Prediction 5: Legislation will make it easier to choose health insurance.
So here are the Top 5 Medical Innovations of 2011 chosen among 80 nominations by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
1. A Hope for Melanoma Cancer Patients
2. A Way to Detect Alzheimer’s Disease Early
3. A Warning Against Heart Disease
4. A Vaccine for Prostate Cancer
5. A Cure for Hepa-C
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
