12 minute read
Paul Hopkins
The Fact OfThe Matter
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PAUL HOPKINS PAUL HOPKINS My spinal tap and the future of medicine
ere is nothing like a stay in hospital to reconnect one with life and how eeting it can be. I found myself the other week undergoing surgery on my lower spine, carried out by a man whose incalculable knowledge and sleight of hands I can only bow to. ose wonderful traits and modern science — that the procedure was by way of micro-surgery — saw me discharged from hospital the next day.
Recovery mode has given me time to consider the wonders of modern medicine, in that much of what we take for granted today in health care was an unknown 20 or 30 years ago, even a decade ago. We have come leaps and bounds in the diagnosis and treatment of many once-thought incurable illnesses in the elds of cancers and cardiology, muscle and nerve regeneration, and in the elds, too, of transplants and arti cial body parts.
Consider the American David Bennett who, at 57, has became the rst person to get a heart transplant from a geneticallymodi ed pig, after a seven-hour procedure in Baltimore. e cross-species surgery — xenotransplant — has been cited a “game-changing moment in the history of medicine” and raises hopes of clinical trials for humans with kidney failure.
Now, consider, too, the year is 2040. You go into hospital for routine surgery but, unlike today, this is performed by a surgeon operating remotely from a di erent continent, using new blood generated inside your own body without the need for a donor, and using medicine speci cally designed to match your own DNA. ese are just some of the ways futurologist Ray Hammond envisions healthcare will change in the next 20 years and beyond. Although impossible to know the extent of that change, the eminent British scientist, who has written some dozen books on the future world, sees a tomorrow in which medical care is increasingly personalised, digitally focused and data-driven.
Hammond predicts ve main ways the healthcare landscape might change: personalised medicine, stem-cell medicine, nano-scale medicine, gene therapy and digital-driven health care.
Although these advances are already having an impact on healthcare, they are still at their early stages but, due to advances in Arti cial Intelligence (AI), the decreasing cost of gene sequencing and ‘personalised’ medicine, they are fast becoming key parts of diagnostics, drug development and patient care.
In the last decade, healthcare has become increasingly focused on what cutting-edge technology can o er patients and physicians. In the next 20 years, the current ‘one size ts all’ approach to medicine could be replaced, thanks to advances in personalised or ‘precision’ medicine. Analysing individuals’ DNA may mean doctors can start to treat patients with drugs tailored to their unique DNA.
By 2040, medical science can expect to have collected DNA sequencing data from tens of millions of patients, shedding light on links between particular genes and diseases. By then, too, Hammond predicts every newborn baby will have their DNA routinely sequenced.
Stem-cell medicine, which is still at early stages, will become an important tool in everyday medicine. For example, rather than relying on donors human, organs will be grown on demand from stem cells in a lab.
Medical care could also be taking place on a ‘nano-scale’. e use of minute materials for diagnosis and drug treatment will have advanced beyond the early stages it is at today. Scientists, also, may be able to manipulate cells at a molecular level, allowing for an even greater level of personalised treatment and cure.
Although still an ethical grey area, gene editing, in which the genes responsible for certain medical conditions are deactivated or rewritten, will likely remain an ongoing debate in the coming decades.
In arriving at my need for my routine spine surgery, consultants also discovered that I have the potential for, or disposition to, developing aplastic anaemia, whereby my bone marrow is hindered in creating healthy red blood cells vital to life. Only the potential, mind you.
“It just needs ongoing monitoring for now,” says my haematologist. “Old age will likely get you before it does.”
Sitting in the sterile consulting room, I say: “My Mother had aplastic anaemia. It eventually developed into a secondary cancer, leukaemia, of which she died 22 years ago.” e consultant smiles. “ at was back then. Nowadays, we have a drug to treat aplastic anaemia, a derivative of a drug which enhances an athlete’s performance. We’ll have you running a marathon yet!”
And, so, I live in hope...
Cost of living crisis facing households in Kilkenny as Government fails to respond to Central Bank report
BY: DEPUTY KATHLEEN
FUNCHION SINN FEIN TD FOR KILKENNY CARLOW
SINN Féin TD for Carlow Kilkenny Kathleen Funchion, has called on the Government to get a grip on the cost of living crisis facing households, as the recent Central Bank report warned that wages and social welfare payments would fail to keep pace with rising prices.
Teachta Funchion said:
“ e Government are failing to get a grip with the cost of living crisis that is hurting households, here in Kilkenny.
“Not only are they failing to respond, they are contributing to the crisis, with rising rents and sky-high childcare costs a direct result of Government policy failures.
“Last month’s report by the Central Bank has found that prices will have risen faster than wages in 2021 and 2022, reducing household living standards.
“ ese price rises are expect-“ ese price rises are expect ed to persist for some time. ed to persist for some time.
“Increases to core social “Increases to core social welfare payments in the Budget failed to keep pace with Budget failed to keep pace with in ation, meaning those who in ation, meaning those who rely on social welfare to protect rely on social welfare to protect their incomes will be worse o . their incomes will be worse o .
“Higher prices in rents, gas “Higher prices in rents, gas and electricity bills, home and electricity bills, home heating oil, petrol and diesel heating oil, petrol and diesel face low and middle-income face low and middle-income households.
“Yet the Taoiseach’s biggest “Yet the Taoiseach’s biggest worry is that workers’ wages worry is that workers’ wages will rise. “ is Government “ is Government need to get a grip on need to get a grip on reality and the nancial pressure workers and families are currently under.
“Rents should “Rents should be reduced and be reduced and frozen, social welfare rates must be increased to at least match price increases, and a comprehensive strategy must be brought forward to respond to the energy crisis.” energy crisis.”
5G for high population areas by 2030 in new plan
THERE is to be 5G internet coverage in all populated areas by 2030, under a new Government strategy, with four out of all adults having basic digital skills. e Digital Ireland Framework signed o by Cabinet will include a wide range of commitments aimed at making the country more technologically advanced.
Along with a commitment to upskill older people to ensure they can take advantage of technology, the report also pledges to make 90% of all Government services available online before the end of the decade. e plan also commits to signi cant investment in cyber-security, including giving more funding to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). e State’s weak defence against cyber attacks was exposed by last year’s hacking of the HSE and Department of Health by international criminals.
At the time, it emerged the most senior position in the cyber-security agency was not lled as a salary of only €89,000 was being o ered for the role. e Government has since increased this salary to €184,000. e national digital strategy was developed by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Recovery and Investment.
A Government source speaking to Irish Independent said the plan was to “build on our success as a home for many high-tech multinationals, as well as digital developments through the pandemic”. e goals of the framework include increasing jobs, creating more business opportunities, while providing better access to state services and promoting exible working conditions.
By 2028, all Irish households and businesses will have access to a “gigabit network”, while every populated area of the country will have access to 5G coverage by 2030.
Developing a digital strategy is a commitment in the Programme for Government and the 2021 Economic Recovery Plan. e blueprint will also align Government policy with the developments cited in the EU’s Digital Decade.
South East role in the pandemic honoured
ON a virtual awards ceremony recently, the sta of the Department of Public Health, HSE South East were presented with a HSE Excellence Award by Chief Clinical O cer Dr Colm Henry. e awards now in their sixth year recognise the work and special projects carried out by HSE sta across the country. is particular award was accepted by Dr Carmel Mullaney, Director of Public Health, HSE South East, on behalf of sta across the region, comes as restrictions are being lifted.
Dr Mullaney said: “It’s a great honour to have our work recognised. It has been a very challenging time, as we worked with a constantly changing situation and evolving disease. We had to innovate and change as the pandemic progressed, to continue to provide services much needed by the public.
“Notwithstanding the pain, su ering and grief some people went through, our team worked to protect the health of our communities from Freshford to Ferrybank and from Urlingford to Castlecomer, and across the South East,” she said.
“Many members of the HSE were re-deployed to support the work of the Department of Public Health as case numbers rose and the work of contact tracing and managing outbreaks of Covid-19 increased daily.
“ is award is shared by us in Public Health with the personnel and other agencies across the South East who we worked with closely during this di cult time, thank you for your hard work,” Dr Mullaney said. Addressing the online ceremony, HSE’s Chief Clinical O cer Dr Colm Henry said; “It is an honour to present the HSE Excellence Award to all sta of Public Health departments across the country. Hundreds of hard-working sta in every region, including doctors, nurses, surveillance teams, contact tracers and administrative sta , have played a unique role throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many lives have been saved through their tireless e orts in outbreak management and control, the tracking and tracing of the disease, and breaking and preventing numerous chains of transmission in the community.
“While Public Health’s work is on-going in this pandemic, it is important that we recognise and acknowledge their major contribution over the past two years,” Dr Henry said.
Woo at the Zoo this Valentine’s Day...
THE Zoo in Dublin invites visitors to ‘Woo At e Zoo’ with their beloved, for an unforgettable date on the most romantic weekend of the year! On Saturday, February 12 and Sunday, February 13 at 8:30am, Dublin Zoo will exclusively open its doors early to a very limited number of couples for what will surely be a memorable and magical morning. Upon entry, couples will be welcomed with a Dublin Zoo goody bag before venturing into the dense bamboo- lled Kaziranga Forest Trail.
Here, couples will be invited to take a seat in the amphitheatre as a member of the animal care team introduces them to the majestic Asian elephant herd. Couples will enjoy a romantic breakfast bu et in the Meerkat restaurant before they get to explore Dublin Zoo for the rest of the day. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting https:// www.dublinzoo.ie/event/ woo-at-the-zoo/
Ifac’s hybrid work shortlisted for national award
IFAC has been shortlisted for the most prestigious HR awards in the country. Ireland’s farming, food and agribusiness specialist professional services rm — the 8th largest, diversi ed professional services rm in Ireland — has been selected as a nalist for the CIPD Ireland HR Awards 2022 in the Flexible and Hybrid Working category. e annual CIPD awards reward innovation and excellence in the elds of HR, L&D, and people management. e Flexible and Hybrid Working category recognises organisations that have excelled in their response to COVID-19 and supported their people through the transition.
Ifac was shortlisted for providing exible, futurefocussed working and choice for its teams in terms of how, when, and where work can be done, and all with consideration for their wellbeing and family commitments.
Ifac has more than 450 people looking after its clients’ needs. e rm formed and launched its new employeecentered hybrid work approach in 2021, built on trust and the many lessons learned since COVID-19 arrived in Ireland. It comprises three days in the o ce and two days from home, as well as all the basics such as being available during work hours when you are working from home, keeping cameras on for team meetings, and a clean desk/shared workspace policy.
Ifac Chief Executive John Donoghue said: “We plan to grow our team at ifac and will be o ering recruits the chance to live and work where they feel at home. is will lead to greater job satisfaction, improved work-life balance and reduced commuting times, as well as enhanced retention for the rm.
“It is great to be shortlisted for this national award and to acknowledge the great work and contribution to the rm our teams are continuing to make while currently working remotely,” he said. e award winners will be announced at a ceremony on March 25.
Drop to 25,000 new cars
NEW cars registrations for the month of January are down slightly -0.2% (25,093) when compared to January 2021 (25,140). Light Commercial vehicles (LCV) are up slightly 0.7% (5,055) compared to January last year (5,022). HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations are also showing a small decrease of 1.5% (332) in comparison to January 2021 (337).
According to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), used car imports saw a 40.8% (4,041) decrease when compared with January 2021 (6,821).
New electric car registrations reached their highest month on record with 2,714 registered in January.
