Medical breakthroughs expected in 2004:
New, faster CT machines that can take clear pictures of a beating heart without a catheter, sedation or hospitalization, combined with MRI to show blood vessels, blood flow, scar tissue and the workings of the heart muscle and valves plus plaque buildup.
International efforts to regulate food marketing, pricing and production to prevent obesity.
24-hour blood-pressure recording to diagnose hypertension and increased use of home blood-pressure readings to provide doctors with more accurate, regular monitoring of patients.
An over-the-counter “morning after” birth-control pill.
A new oral anticoagulant called Exanta that promises to make blood-clot prevention far less complicated than warfarin.
Results of an NIH-funded independent assessment of cholesterol-lowering statin use showing a higher rate of cognitive side effects than previously reported.
New targeted cancer therapies, including two new drugs for colon cancer that attack cancer on various fronts, without the toxic and debilitating side effects triggered by traditional chemotherapy.
Better cancer prediction, including new molecular-imaging machines to find out far sooner whether a particular cancer treatment is working, a simple blood test called CellSearch capable of detecting minuscule amounts of tumor cells circulating in the blood, and “molecular profiling” — using genes and proteins associated with cancer to better predict just how aggressive the tumors will be.
Insurance-paid weight loss based on trying the diet and lifestyle program created by Dean Ornish.
FDA regulatory changes to precisely define use of the term “low-carb” in food packaging.