Future healthcare journal最新文献

As medicine advances at an unprecedented pace, the field of nephrology is poised for transformative change. By 2050, breakthroughs in kidney disease prevention, dialysis, transplantation, and omics-driven precision medicine could redefine patient care and outcomes. Here, we share our perspectives on the challenges faced and how changes in health policy, emerging technologies, novel therapies, and data-driven approaches might shape the future of nephrology. From innovative dialysis solutions to xenotransplantation and AI-powered diagnostics, we explore the possibilities that could revolutionise kidney health in the decades to come.

The intertwined crises of poor health, climate change, biodiversity loss and social injustice demand urgent action. Human activities, particularly fossil fuel use and the current food system, are key drivers of these crises. A transition to a plant-based diet, especially within healthcare systems, offers a significant opportunity to address these challenges. Diets high in animal products and ultra-processed foods are leading causes of chronic ill health and environmental degradation, while plant-based diets reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve biodiversity and promote human health. Evidence shows that plant-based diets can prevent and manage conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, while addressing global food insecurity and resource inefficiency. Healthcare systems, such as the NHS, can lead this transition by offering plant-based meals, promoting education and advocating for policy changes. Embracing plant-based diets is now an ethical imperative, with benefits spanning individual health, environmental sustainability, equitable resource distribution and global health justice.

The climate crisis is the greatest threat to global health. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have increased the temperature of the Earth by over 1.5 °C and caused sea levels to rise by over 24 cm since the beginning of the 20th century. 2024 was the warmest year on record and the last 10 hottest years have all occurred in the last 10 years. Climate models suggest that global surface temperature could rise between 1.5 °C and 5.5 °C compared with the pre-industrial period by 2100, and sea-level rise could be between 0.5 m and 1.3 m. Climate change is already causing significant shifts in weather patterns and an increase in extreme weather events around the world, including droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, storms and floods. These are having an impact on the spread of infectious diseases and the severity of non-infectious diseases. Climate change is already causing food and water insecurity, increasing levels of malnourishment and the burden of disease. The unpredictable impacts of climate change and the perceived inaction from local, national and international leaders, is creating anxiety that is contributing to deteriorating mental health, particularly in young people. The health impacts of climate change will increase in the future if nothing is done to curb greenhouse gas emission. We need action to deal with the climate crisis while improving the health, security and income of the very poorest people in our global society. We must plan for a net zero world that provides healthy, safe and low environmental impact lives for 10 billion people by 2050.

The UK is increasingly being affected by unpredictable weather events with flooding, heatwaves and storms impacting on physical and mental health and livelihoods. All of these will become increasingly common as the climate crisis accelerates. Efforts made to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are slow. Healthcare systems must meet the growing demands of a multi-morbid and ageing population, while simultaneously reducing their environmental impact. The NHS is already under significant pressures and currently is ill-prepared to deal with these changes unless adaptive and resilient measures are introduced urgently and at pace. Hospital infrastructures require urgent vulnerability climate crisis assessment; however, fundamentally the models of care we currently use are dated and in need of innovative solutions that embrace digital technologies to help develop new models of care in the community. Failure to introduce resilience will lead to future preventable deaths. We must act now and do so collaboratively.

Rising temperatures and changes in precipitation and humidity may affect the geographic ranges and habitats of pathogens and their animal hosts, and directly influence the reproduction, replication and transmissibility of certain pathogens and their vectors. These changes can lead to novel diseases presenting in new places, and a change in the seasonality of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and Lyme disease. Here we discuss the changing epidemiology of vector-borne diseases in the UK and abroad, and give some case examples. We will also discuss the importance of, and how to take, a detailed travel history and the impact of climate change on travel-associated infections.

Driven by human activity, global heating and associated climate change threaten the health and survival of those alive today. This paper explains why, the pace and scale of the response required.

Patients and carers must be part of the move toward reducing waste, improving sustainability and tackling climate change in the current emergency. Without accurate, practical information they cannot contribute. Patients have fears associated with climate change and health, which are explored here.