Every successful medical invention is a boon to mankind as it is going to help save lives and maximize their lifetime. 2020 had a few such medical innovations that might improve a patient’s health and lifestyle. In this article, we will discuss 5 top medical innovations of 2020.
Recently, Cleaveland clinic has announced the top medical innovations of 2020. Dr. Roizen says, “Healthcare is ever changing and we anticipate that these innovations will significantly transform the medical field and improve care for patients at Cleveland Clinic and throughout the world,” said Dr. Roizen.
1) We all must agree, this is one of the much needed medical innovations of 2020. Osteoporosis is a condition in which your bones become weak and brittle that a little fall or even coughing might lead to fracture. Such fractures most commonly occur in the hip, wrist, or spine area. This usually occurs when the new bone created cannot keep up with the loss of old bone. Osteoporosis can affect both men and women. In order to give the affected patients more strengthening power and to prevent further fracturing of bones, FDA recently approved a dual-acting drug called romosozumab. This medicine gives more control to prevent more fractures.
2) Mitral valve’s functionality is to prevent the backflow of blood from the left ventricle to the left atrium. In people over the age of 75, the mitral valve might be defective leading to the regurgitation(the action of bringing the swallowed food up to the mouth again). Minimally invasive surgery was introduced in 2013. In this procedure, an FDA approved device was used to repair the mitral valve, in case the person is not eligible for open heart surgery. In March, the FDA broadened the approval of a minimally invasive valve repair device in people optical medical therapy failed to get symptom relief. This type of treatment allows people to be more relieved of the fear and inconvenience related to cardiac surgery.
3) Statins are a group of medicines that are consumed to help lower the low-density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) in the blood. But it might lead to muscle pain in 5% to 10% of the people who take them. A new agent called bempedoic acid was introduced as an alternative to statins in order to avoid the side effects. This bempedoic acid blocks the key enzyme that our body uses to make cholesterol. The thing is, statins accumulate in muscle causing muscle pain but bempedoic acid does not accumulate, hence reduces the muscle pain. While going through clinical trials, patients have noticed level drop in their LDL by an average of 21%.
4) An Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury is a tear or sprain of the ACL. Knee swelling and pain are some of the common symptoms of the ACL injury. Once a person suffers from the ACL injury, there is a 20% higher chance that the person might experience re-tearing again. Many researchers are hoping for long-term results just by using the patient’s own cells, blood components, and a few other natural substances. This way you can experience better healing with decreased inflammation. In this alternative ACL repair, the torn ligaments are replaced with autologous tissues. This new treatment is called bridge-enhanced ACL repair(BEAR).
5) This is one of the best medical innovations of 2020. If your children have peanut allergy, they might have allergic reactions such as redness or swelling of skin, itching sensation in the throat, diarrhea, and vomiting. This might occur within a few minutes of exposure to peanuts. Some cases it may also lead to difficulty in breathing. Peanuts are one of the most common allergy causing foods in children as well as in adults. To avoid the risk of the symptoms of the peanut allergy, a new oral immunotherapy medication was introduced that can gradually build tolerance to peanut exposure.
