‘Magic’ obesity-eradicating pills, robot doctors in our homes and people living FOREVER… the future of healthcare revealed
Futurologist Dr Ian Pearson reveals what life could be like for us over the next 50 years
FIFTY years from now you’ll be able to pop a pill to fight the flab, have a robot doctor carry out a blood test in your lounge and transfer your brain to an android, predicts futurologist Dr Ian Pearson.
Scientists hope they’ll soon be able to use a “biological teleporter” to transmit DNA, viruses and vaccines by email, according to .
But how do these awe-inspiring technological advances affect us normal folk?
Tech expert Dr Pearson spoke to The Sun Online to paint a picture of how healthcare could change in the future.
1. ‘MAGIC’ OBESITY-ERADICATING PILLS
Our reliance on cars, desk-bound jobs and love of high-calorie food has had a dramatic impact on our health with one in four British adults now classed as obese, states .
But rather than going on a fad diet to fight the flab, Dr Pearson says in 50 years times we'll be able to just pop a “magic” pill that eliminates food calories.
“It’s already being addressed by lots of pharmaceutical laboratories. Most existing things work by reducing your appetite," he said.
“People love to eat, there’s no doubt about that. If you could get rid of all of those calories by swallowing a magic pill, that magic pill would sell for large amounts of money.”
Dr Pearson believes that food could also be “bio-engineered so you don’t get the same calories from it”.
He added: “That would allow you to eat and enjoy chocolate but without the calories.
“The incentive for people to make a pill that stops your body getting the calories or come up with food substitutes that taste the same but don’t have any is high, therefore it will be solved.
“I don’t see any reason why you can’t do it. Artificial intelligence is helping to drive this.”
2. ROBOT DOCTORS AT HOME
Within the next few years, expect to get check-ups done by a robot doctor in your living room.
Dr Pearson said: “Already, most of us search our symptoms on Google before we see a doctor.
“Ultimately, you’ll be able to talk to an artificial intelligence robot at home, such as Amazon Echo or Siri, and they’ll tell you what you’ve got and how to treat it.
“They could also perform blood tests or blood analysis by shining lasers through the skin.”
In the next 20 years, he believes we’ll be wearing electronic transfers on our skin, which can monitor things such as blood pressure, and will communicate with our robot doctor if there are any problems.
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3. RISE OF THE MACHINES IN HOSPITALS
In the next 20 years, Dr Pearson predicts there will be far fewer humans employed in hospitals as the machines take over.
“A robot is already performing brain operations and hip replacements, generally being remote-controlled by a skilled surgeon,” he said.
“But some have been left loose to do operations on their own now – and they’ve shown they can do every bit as good a job.”
Dr Pearson said nurses will be “more difficulty to replace”, adding: “Clinical evidence proves that people caring for you in hospital helps you recover quicker.
"The caring function is hard to replace with a machine, it needs a human touch.”
4. THE END OF DIABETES?
In the future, Dr Pearson believes we’ll have the option to eradicate diabetes.
He said: “Genetics is one of the primary causes of diabetes. Genetic engineering can fix those sorts of things, and when somebody is an embryo that’s the best time to do it – it’s harder to do as you get older.”
He added: “Some structures in your body could also be replicated, for example, you could have a synthetic pancreas.
“The other way is to wear a capsule Fitbit that is in charge with your body and knows when you need more insulin.”
5. HOW TO LIVE FOREVER
Our bodies will become redundant and we could one day achieve “electronic immortality”, says Dr Pearson.
“Over the next 30 years we'll be able to make an exact map of our brains and place it inside a computer, meaning you'll have all of your brain cells but electronically,” he revealed.
“Your brain would be in the cloud and could connect to any machine or android in the world.
“Over a period of years, you’d add your thoughts into the cloud and would become smarter.”
Effectively, we’d no longer be limited by our human bodies.“It’s a gradual process. It’s becoming super human,” Dr Pearson added.
But 'immortality' does have its setbacks.
“Experts call it electronic immortality because if there was a big solar storm or nuclear war, you could be switched off or killed,” he said.
“If you’re under 40, you’re more likely to die by being switched off than die old naturally.
“My guess if that this will happen by 2050.”
Dr Pearson has revealed what Christmas will look like in 2040.
And, what the world will look like in eight years time.