The Future of Health Technology
The Future of Health Technology
https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/health-technology-future-c3cdccad
Publish Date: 2026-06-14 10:00:00
Source Domain: www.wsj.com
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When it comes to the diseases that threaten to steal our healthy years—Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, arthritis—they all have one thing in common: By the time we get diagnosed, often much of the damage is already done.
But a wave of new scientific advances have the potential to shift that timeline far earlier.
In the near future, doctors may be able to predict the speed at which your individual organs are aging, and detect cancer, Alzheimer’s and other diseases long before you develop symptoms. GLP-1 drugs, now used for diabetes and weight loss, might be prescribed to protect your heart or brain or to treat a range of chronic conditions. And instead of a knee or hip replacement, you could get new bone and joint treatments designed to reverse physical decline entirely by regenerating tissue in damaged joints.
“We’re entering a new era of prediction and prevention,” says Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and author of “Super Agers.” “We’re talking about each organ in your body, and having new insights we never had. That’s where the whole future lies—preventing the big age-related diseases.”
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