Antibiotic resistance, the potential of artificial intelligence, the gap between scientific evidence and its application in clinical practice, and population mobility all come together when making predictions about future diseases and therapies, experts argued on Thursday.
The session that closed the second day of the Scientific Meeting, which is taking place at the Alfândega do Porto, had as its theme the diseases and therapies of the future, but “if there is something that is difficult to predict it is the future”, admitted the moderator of the session and president of the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto (ISPUP), Henrique Barros.
“I am not interested in knowing what diseases there will be in the future, but rather those that we must ensure do not exist in the future,” he said.
If, on the one hand, about 100 years ago “the disease of diseases was constipation”, today it seems “dangerous to predict the future”, especially when factors as apparently different as resistance to antibiotics, the potential of Artificial Intelligence, the gap between scientific development and incorporation into clinical practice or migratory flows and mobility.
Toward Predictions about the growth of diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are “terrifying”admitted Joana Azeredo, from the Center for Biological Engineering at the University of Miño, especially because apparently “we are losing our weapons against bacteria.”
With the pharmaceutical industry “exhausting its arsenal”, research has focused on bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) which “could be a solution”, firstly “because they can kill bacteria efficiently” and secondly “because they make bacteria sensitive to antibiotics”.
“This therapy has a great future ahead of it, but also a present,” observed Joana Azeredo, pointing out that in Portugal 11 patients with resistance to antibiotics or intolerance to them were “treated successfully.”
The therapy, however, faces “significant regulatory challenges,” he said, arguing that “many benefits” can be gained from it for the future of precision medicine.
Like bacteriophages, Artificial Intelligence could be very useful in the future of healthcaredefended Tiago Marques, from the Champalimaud Foundation, for becoming an ally in the discovery of new therapies.
Its use, however, requires “great care” and awareness, especially because “artificial intelligence will not solve all problems,” the specialist recalled, adding that in terms of health, the medical data that serve as a basis for algorithms are difficult to access for privacy reasons.
“It is important that these new technologies are regulated and monitored,” he said.
Despite scientific advances, there remains a gap between evidence and incorporation into clinical practice, said Mário Silva Santos, from the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS).
“It takes too long and we should be ashamed of the number of lives that are not saved because we are too slow to implement this therapeutic innovation,” he noted.
In a world where migration is not a new phenomenon, Sónia Dias, from the National School of Public Health, warned that it has become “faster and more complex” as a result of globalisation.
“We know that probably the main focus of vulnerability in health of migrant populations has to do with social factors,” he said, stating that There is clear evidence that a migrant’s health condition deteriorates after spending more than 10 years in the new country.
Under the motto “+Science for a single health and global well-being”, the Scientific Meeting began on Wednesday and will continue until Friday at the Alfândega do Porto. About 200 speakers are expected to attend the meeting.
Source: Observadora
