Are we living longer and healthier or longer and sicker?
Nicholls
Is society’s current approach to healthcare helping us live longer and healthier, or longer and sicker?
The real opportunity for the future of healthcare is curing chronic health illnesses. Or better yet, prevent them altogether. New technologies are enabling tremendous breakthroughs, such as the rapid development of the mRNA vaccine. Meanwhile, gene editing and personalised medicine powered by artificial intelligence are beginning to move beyond the research lab.
Watch: Curing The Future - A Different Lens, episode 27.
But, as Monash University professor Mark Febbraio says:
"If we get a drug for every disease and we put people on a cocktail of drugs when they're 70 years old so that they can live to 110 instead of 100, is that a good thing or not? The ethical or philosophical question is, are we living longer and healthier or are we living longer and sicker?
About the Authors
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Stephen nicholls
Director, Monash Victorian Heart Institute and Victorian Heart Hospital
Stephen is a world-renowned cardiologist, and leads the Victorian Heart Hospital (VHH) due to open at Monash University's Clayton campus in 2022. His research broadly focuses on developing strategies to reduce the risk of heart disease, involving translational research spanning preclinical human and clinical trials.
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Eric morand
Professor, School of Clinical Sciences
Eric is a physician-scientist whose key interests are clinical outcome measurement and biological profiling in Systemic lupus erythematosus, and the actions of glucocorticoid induced proteins on the immune system. He is founder of the Monash Lupus Clinic, Australia's largest research-grounded clinic for patients with SLE, a founding member of the Australian Lupus Registry & Biobank, and Chair of the Asia-Pacific Lupus Collaboration.
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Sophia zoungas
Head, Monash Public Health and Preventive Medicine
Sophia is an endocrinologist and a leading clinician scientist and trialist. She is Head of the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University and Professor of Diabetes, Vascular Health and Ageing. Her research focus is on the generation and implementation of evidence for the prevention, screening and management of chronic conditions such as diabetes and its complications of kidney and cardiovascular disease.
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Yen ying lim
Associate Professor (Research), Psychology
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Keith hill
Professor (Research), School of Primary and Allied Health Care
Professor (Research), School of Primary and Allied Health Care
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Mark febbraio
Professor (Research), Drug Discovery Biology, Monash university
Mark is head of the Cellular and Molecular Metabolism Laboratory at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. His research is focused on understanding mechanisms associated with exercise, obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer and his aim is to develop novel drugs to treat lifestyle related diseases.
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Francine marques
Senior Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences
Francine is a current National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow and a former National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Heart Foundation Early Career Fellow.
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