From the Alvin and Rosalie Sarachek studio.

PBS Kansas presents Empowering Seniors.

Welcome to Empowering Seniors.

I'm your host, Katherine Ambrose.

We are talking today about the future of medicine.

Meet Dan O'Brien, physician, PhD and MBA.

Here on our set today to share with us the future of medicine, including eye transplants, robots, all kinds of things.

Dan, thank you so much for being here.

Yeah.

No.

Thank you.

It's a pleasure to be in here.

Well, we love that you came to Kansas to be on this show.

Absolutely.

And to give us some real insight for our viewers, we are all about educating, equipping and empowering seniors.

And we want to share what's going on.

Cutting edge medicine dash so much right?

So much.

I mean, it's such a great question, Katherine.

You know so much right now with AI is a huge topic, between AI, digital health, telemedicine, Crispr technology.

So really so much and really, I think to focus a lot on AI to be able to augment or make more effective some of these health care decisions is really empowering.

How does that work?

Because I can yeah, see people out there that are really worried about AI.

Yeah.

And so that might be the first thing that they think of.

So tell us what's great about AI for medicine.

Yes.

So think about you know, you're a patient going to see a physician.

You're getting your labs done.

Physicians always trying to find a needle in the haystack within the lab.

So AI is able to kind of pinpoint what exactly is going wrong.

And then be able to make more effective clinical decision making.

Take even radiology, for example.

About a third of radiologists utilize AI to be able to pick up on something.

So maybe that it's providing the physicians more information to help them figure.

Yes, it's medicine, right?

To have more of an accurate diagnosis without reducing labor.

Right.

As far as I don't think it's gonna eliminate jobs, but I think augment or make more effective decision making.

so how are you seeing eye really being utilized in maybe surprising ways?

Yes.

Of course not only of course with the labs, but even right now in the robotic technology space within surgical robots.

And I think being able to have that AI to have that data, I think is really crucial for for key decision making.

So in robotic, type surgeries.

Yes, quite a while.

So absolutely.

Oh my gosh.

I mean, right now.

So take a, appendectomy, just a basic right procedure with that robotically, you can actually go in, be able to have a smaller incision, faster recovery time, and actually treat more patients robotically.

So robotics is really the future.

I think that's where kind of surgeries going from that aspect.

And then if you combine AI with other digital aspects, that's absolutely huge.

My fast recovery sounds good to me.

Exactly why why would that be just a fact.

You can actually treat more patients with a smaller incision.

So smaller and incision means faster recovery time.

So I think that's where things are going on a technology basis.

The physicians are able to just really get it dialed in and exactly, you know, have that long recovery time and again, less, less reduction in that infection to precise and exact precision medicine.

And you're right.

I mean, that's where things are going.

Precision medicine is absolutely huge.

Just being a little bit more precise with that.

So not only, of course, with AI, but now we're seeing digital biomarkers, what that looks like.

And that comes with more precision medicine to say how do we catch things upstream?

How do we catch things a lot?

Earlier before the cycle of health care events happens later?

So what would you like people to know about, what's going on in medicine right now and the direction?

Yeah, I think right now, of course, the biomarker space is hot.

I think the digital health space, where we're going with that is really big.

I think Crispr technology, gene editing, the fact that maybe we can eradicate some of the cancers.

I think is absolutely huge right now.

And I think preventative medicine catching things earlier, I think that's where we're headed, because the faster we can catch things earlier, the less likely things will happen down the road.

That would probably require going to the doctor, right?

Exactly.

Yes.

Just being proactive, I think.

Okay.

So being proactive.

Yes.

Do you find that people sometimes are fearful about going to a doctor and checking something out?

Yeah.

You know, you're right.

I think people are I think at first, but I think it's that patient doctor relationship which is so crucial, being able to open up to the physician, tell them their story.

And I think the physician there is able to really get the diagnosis and the differential just right.

So I think building that rapport, going to someone that you trust.

But again, being proactive right now is absolutely huge.

Doing your diagnostic, doing your screening test is, is is huge.

So that can help improve your health span.

I'm sure exactly.

Proactive and yeah, prevent yourself maybe some misery by getting in sooner.

Yes.

And utilizing what's going on.

Yes.

All the therapies, all the diagnostic tests, people are living longer.

I think the ability to exercise people are being much more cognizant about their diet, too.

And I think that's really interesting too.

So I'm going to take you back to Crispr technology.

Yes, that's two big words.

Yes.

What that means, that is just that gene editing aspect.

If you can go in and actually, rearrange the, genes and actually have more of eradication of different cancers by going in there just on a more cellular basis.

So I think the Crispr, I think that's the way of the future.

Again, I think the surgical robotics is the way of the future.

But I think that Crispr, it's going to be huge.

It's going to be hot.

I'm still trying to grasp what that means.

Yes.

It almost sounds like you're cooking something like Crispr.

It's not that, right?

You're just editing the genes.

So we all have, you know, various genes within our body.

And if we can edit those genes, I think there's a good chance that we can eradicate some of the diseases.

All right.

And so and how do you go in and edit genes.

What is that process.

Just in various technologies there's different technologies that go in and you're able to do that just to eradicate that just through the gene editing.

Okay.

And so is that like equipment that you use and someone goes in for a procedure.

Yes, exactly.

You could yeah.

One way to do it.

And medications.

Are there medications that work that way.

Yes.

A lot what I do with the medications, particularly around the transplant space and even the cardio renal space, is the fact that all the immune suppressants to be able to suppress the immune system, that is really pivotal to.

So I think the fact that all these new therapies coming up, and I think that's another big thing in technology, almost in healthcare too, is the fact we have all these therapies to to help with diseases.

And I think that's the exciting part.

I think all the biotech, all the pharma companies, all the device companies are doing a terrific job having some of these therapies to be able to help patients.

That's encouraging.

Yes.

See how bright the the outlook seems to be from somebody that really is in it.

Yes.

So what different areas are you involved in?

I cover multiple therapeutic areas.

All sorts of different consulting bases.

So it's really I think what I find fascinating, of course, is the cardiology that are from all of the transplant space.

Three things that are out there really, I think taking off and of course, sports medicine.

Always being a an athlete at heart, I think the sports medicine space is absolutely fascinating.

I think there's so much going on right now in sports medicine, with PRP therapy with different ways to surgically treat different diseases is just fascinating.

What's PRP therapy?

Platelet rich plasma therapy.

So you actually you go in, you could take someone's blood out, you can centrifuge it.

You can actually spin it around, take it out and then inject it back in.

So right now recovery is absolutely huge.

So Lifetime Fitness is doing a lot around recovery that a lot of different organizations that are just so, so impactful around recovery.

I think that's collagen and all that is becoming a huge topic right now.

How do we recover?

And I think athletes are really figuring out how do we optimize performance as well as how do we, you know, recover from different, injuries?

Okay.

So it kind of reminds me of NASA, like what they learned getting.

Yes.

And or working on projects, how that trickles down into the rest of the world.

Yes.

Sports medicine I know does that too.

So what are some of the ways that sports medicine are really impacting medicine for everyday people?

Gosh, I think one of the fascinating things right now is vestibular training.

Just the fact that around gravity talking about NASA, we know the the importance of gravity and what that looks like.

And right now there's different modalities within the vestibular system to be able to optimize athletic performance, which is just absolutely fascinating.

It's just amazing that, you know, people are out there developing that technology that are out there marketing that to say, hey, we've got something really unique and special for vestibular training.

Okay, so vestibular, let's tell the audience, yes.

Yeah, that that's just a way to connect the, the equilibrium.

And of course the sound, and all that connects to the cerebral system.

So that's one of the most interesting, nervous system functions of the brain, the fact that they have that stimulus system.

Okay.

So and you mentioned transplants.

Yeah.

How are things improving in terms of transplants for people.

Yeah.

No.

Great question Katherine.

I think the fact that you have some of these diagnostic tests, some of these gene expression cell free DNA tests that are just absolutely fascinating to be able to pick up on once someone has, rejection or not.

And I think right now, the ability to do transplant, kidney transplant, heart transplant, dual, you know, transplant, of course, we're seeing a lot more liver transplants right now because of fatty liver and different disease states.

So I think transplant has come a long way, you know, almost to the fact, like, almost like in ecology, it's catching up a little bit.

But I think it's the gift of life.

I think it gives a lot of people, a great opportunity to continue to, to live especially we're seeing so many kidney transplants right now.

What should a mature audience know about kidneys and kidney health?

Yes.

Just the fact we're seeing, obviously an increase in diabetes.

About 10% of the population has diabetes.

So if you have roughly 300 million, you have about 30 million with diabetes.

So you have diabetes that ends up in end stage renal disease.

And at that point someone either has to have dialysis or a kidney transplant.

And so that's what we're seeing.

A lot more kidney transplants due to the fact the amount of people that have diabetes.

And that's where I think as someone gets older, just the ability to exercise and take care of yourself can maybe prevent that.

That route.

So it's it's certainly a another avenue I think through again through exercise and taking care of yourself, taking care of your body could be a great avenue.

is there like an age limit on kidney transplants?

As long as you're, you know, and good and good health.

That's a fair question.

As long as the person can really be a great recipient of it.

and you mentioned fatty liver.

Yes.

So tell us about fatty liver and how do you know you have it?

How can you prevent it?

Yes, of course.

You know, fatty liver again.

It's just I think through people's diets, through alcohol, through fatty foods.

And we're seeing quite a bit of the population with, with fatty liver.

So I think that's where that diet really comes into place.

And there's different diagnostic tests to be able to pick up on, on fatty liver and different, different liver test.

And so if you have a fatty liver or, you know, maybe through diet and other things to prevent it, to get to the point where absolutely sick that you would need a transplant.

Yes, yes.

And I think that's why catching things early, being proactive, seeing your physician, I think is super crucial because again, they have all the tools, the diagnostic test, the therapies before we get to that point of a liver transplant.

And so you mentioned alcohol.

So yeah alcohol play a role with the liver.

And maybe some of the other, you know, organs including the brain.

Of course, you know alcohol is a chemical, right.

And it affects the whole body.

And I think that right now there's a lot of buzz, there's a lot of talk on, on the on the different effects that alcohol can have.

And I think just through it impacting the liver is is really crucial.

And I think just being able to really reduce the consumption of alcohol, I'm a huge believer of water.

I think just drinking a lot more water over alcohol is is certainly important.

It just does.

It does the body overall a lot better.

But I think right now the awareness and the education around things like alcohol is becoming a little bit more prominent and people are being a lot more conscientious about their diet and about their alcohol use.

So by drinking more water, can that help offset, limited alcohol?

Yes.

Yeah.

I would say if you can, the eight glasses a day as always physician recommended, you know, 30 days, you know, hour, 30, 30 minutes a day, five days a week as far as the exercise.

But absolutely, it's just a way to kind of flush out, really keep the kidneys healthy, too.

Not only the liver but the kidneys healthy.

Okay.

So what's that?

Kidney?

Heart?

Health, which is really important.

It's always the kidneys, the first a sacrifice, then the heart, then the brain.

So I think the ability to keep those three vital organs healthy is really crucial.

How would people notice that maybe something was going wrong with their kidney, if that's the first one?

Yes.

So a few lab tests or, creatinine, proteinuria, or different lab tests that kind of show up in the kidney dehydration.

Something to think about.

Just overall fatigue too.

I think that's always good to kind of get that looked at.

But labs don't lie, right?

I think the fact that if you can get your labs checked, you see any elevation approaching urea, like I said, creatinine are certainly the things to really look out for.

What are some early signs that maybe your heart is being impacted?

Great question.

Yes.

And there's so much right now.

Right now not only brain health is big, but heart health is really big.

So I think just feeling sluggish, shortness of breath, not being able to walk across the room, I think just, you know, without feeling tired is really crucial.

And I think getting that checked out, even having heart scans, I think it's really important for everyone to have a heart scan just to make sure that your heart is in really good condition.

How do you access, a heart scan?

Yes.

Insurance.

Or you're worried about whether your insurance will cover it.

Great question on that.

I think there's so many cardiologists internal medicine that you can always see.

There's always assistance programs out there to be able to do that screening, screening opportunities.

But I think, again, that heart scan is really crucial for everyone to get.

And you mentioned the brain.

Yes.

Yeah.

when we're talking about getting older, that might be people's worst fear is cognitive decline.

Yes.

Alzheimer's.

So yes.

How would you advise on that?

Right.

You're right.

I mean, it's a huge topic.

The amount of people that have dementia and the where it's going between now in 2050, it's not going anywhere.

It continues to grow.

I think staying active is really key.

Getting out, maybe walking a few minutes a day, taking care of that, diet as well.

There's, there's so much research on neuroinflammation and the fact that that's playing a huge impact for Alzheimer's.

So I think ways to reduce that.

I still go back to staying active, staying engaged, being around a good social group.

I think all those things play a part in that.

Obviously there is a genetic component, but if you can do everything you can to prevent that, stay active, stay happy, stay well and really be great advocates.

I think, for your family members, because we're seeing a just a lot more people have Alzheimer's and dementia, and there's therapies, there's biomarkers that are there on the horizon that are coming out for Alzheimer's.

But, it's it's a fascinating there's all sorts of neural things that are coming out there certainly fascinate not only Alzheimer's, but we're seeing a lot more Ms. ALS and different disease states like that.

But, Alzheimer's is on the rise.

There's no doubt.

Well, let's say ALS.

Ms.. Yeah.

What are there ways that people can maybe help hedge their bets on that and maybe try to avoid that?

Yes.

Great question.

I think a lot of it's genetics, unfortunately, but I think, taking care of yourself, taking care of your body.

I'm a huge believer of immune system, keeping your immune system really high, doing some of the things like sleep, exercise, drinking enough water, things like that.

I think just keeping a well-balanced, life, healthy lifestyle.

And you mentioned the importance of socialization, having.

Yes.

And staying happy.

Yes.

I see a lot of seniors that can really be down.

Yeah.

And in a lot of areas too.

So how would you suggest that people start feeling happier and why that's so important?

Yes, I think right now where mental health is going, it's a huge topic.

It's been a huge topic post-Covid.

For a while, I think just engaging in social groups, even places like the YMCA, have, you know, just different groups where you can swim or just be more engaged.

The silver sneakers, programs out there.

And again, having a good support system around family and just being around people being engaged, I think that's going to reduce a lot of the mental health and a lot of the sadness that some of the senior citizens are facing.

It's really it can be a battle.

Yes.

And if you can bring that, you know, you mentioned being a good example for family.

Yes.

Because I think a lot that people will reflect back on, on us maybe years after we're gone.

Yeah.

And think about how we were in our later years.

And we could leave such great examples and clues and encouragement.

Yes, for younger generations.

So you're right.

Yes, exactly.

And having that positive attitude.

Right.

Because really, end of life people think about, do I live a good life, that I do the right things and you kind of have those, different memories?

And you're right, leaving that legacy of just overall happiness and joy.

Yeah.

And I think showing younger generations, too, that aging is a bad that, that there's still a lot of joy and great things.

Yes.

As you get older.

Yes.

Demonstrating that for your family is a really great thing to do.

You're right.

And think about how much wiser, you know, as you get older, you're wise in your decision making and just how much you can pass along to your kids, to your grandkids is is really special.

So taking care of your health.

So you're around to do that.

Exactly.

Important.

Yes.

So has a physician that knows all of these things.

What are some of the personal habits, that you're committed to?

Yes.

I'm a huge believer of of again, immune system keeping your immune system up.

So the working out, I think even reading to spending 30 minutes a day and reading, I think reflection and prayer too is really important.

I think we're seeing a lot more people doing yoga classes like that, just I think slowing the nervous system down, regulating that nervous system is really important.

So I think things such as yoga and different stretching and exercises is really, I think, slowing the pace of individuals because there's so many people out there just, you know, flying around all the time.

Right?

You have parents with children and even even older senior citizens with grandkids, and they're just constantly on the go.

But if you can find ways to down regulate that nervous system, to kind of slow things down.

And I think things such as yoga and, reflection are a key part of what I do.

I love that idea to down regulate.

Yes, important for the nervous system.

So how does that benefit the nervous system?

You're right.

So there's two aspects, right.

There's the sympathetic nervous system and there's the parasympathetic.

The sympathetic increases heart rate.

Your digestive everything just speeds up right where parasympathetic is, is everything kind of slows down.

So if you can down regulate the sympathetic nervous system, everything then slows down.

So you're going to decrease a lot of depression and anxiety that a lot of folks have out there.

So again, that comes back to the mental health, mental health aspect is if you can down regulate that nervous system, you can slow things down.

And I think the reflection and different things within, you know, group training, group physical training at gyms can really help that.

Okay, I love that idea.

Getting into the gym.

Yes, doing activities, even activities like yoga, stretching that are causing you to slow down and absolutely create a little focus in your day.

Totally.

It's a great way to start the day it creates again to your point.

It creates that focus, that structure, and you're very mindful throughout the day and that that's able to really slow, slow your body down.

And I think that leads to better health outcomes.

How are you raising your children with these things in mind?

How are you encouraging?

Gosh, just just balance, right?

I think having a huge balance, being able to be active, my kids are great about being outside.

You know, they're still riding their bikes.

We try to limit a lot of tech time, all the iPad use and the iPhone use.

So I think just spending time outside, is one of my kids are very involved in biking.

They're very involved in soccer and hockey.

So I think just keeping them active, keeping them happy, and just very engaged and being outside, being outside, going for hikes, being in the wilderness, I think is really important.

Rather than being in silent around their iPads all day.

Yeah.

One of the things you mentioned was telehealth.

Yes.

That really kind of emerged with Covid.

So what does that look like today.

Yes.

I'll tell a super excited from the fact that now you can actually see your physician virtually instead of going into the clinic because during Covid than what everyone there.

Right.

So they said, hey, if you have any basic follow up, let's do a telehealth.

So it's another way to really improve the access and health care.

And some of the rural areas.

The the access is really limited.

So I think in some of those outskirts telehealth got people a lot more engaged.

And and their health care right also has if people are really kind of in their fragile years.

Yes.

It's a lot of work to have a caregiver pack them up and takes almost yes, to get to the doctor's appointment now.

So telehealth can really help relieve some of that.

Totally, exactly.

And you had much to on the mental health aspect to to be able to have a support group virtually where people can really connect, you know, and I think if you have questions to ask your physician, it just helps you stay more proactive in your health.

And what are some of the other ways, maybe virtually, that people can connect if they're at home and they have health care needs?

Yes.

I think, obviously from a psychiatry standpoint, I think for basic follow ups, say, blood pressure readings, I think blood sugar, things like that, where they can communicate to their physician.

Here's how my, you know, here's how my diabetes is trending or my high blood pressure is trending.

And through telehealth, you can have that dialog with your physician and catch something.

Exactly right.

Exactly.

So the whole idea of catching things earlier upstream before the cycle of events happened downstream, I mean, bring us back to Crispr.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Just some of these, these newer, bigger ideas.

Can you share with us a story where, it's really made a difference for someone?

Yes.

I think right now in the definitely in the cancer space, I think we're seeing so much.

Right.

We're seeing a lot of from the from the male perspective, you know, prostate, lung, colon is big female breast cancer is obviously big lung.

And then colon cancer too.

So I think they have the ability to eradicate these cancers I think is absolutely it's it's so important and so impactful.

And I think if we have some sort of gene editing in there that say, hey, we can take that gene, we can edit it, we can implement a new gene to be able to eradicate cancer, I think would be huge.

And I think right now there's so much research right now in cancer.

And I think there's so much coming out around that.

And I'm wondering if Crispr technology, gene editing is really the future to eradicate cancerous because everyone trying to figure out how do we eradicate that as we get older, we're seeing more and more cancers, more even younger people.

I read an article are getting actually more cancers to not only the older generations but the younger people.

And I think if we can keep the immune system high and through this Crispr, I think through this gene editing, through these technologies, it's very fascinating.

this is going on in the US and where else?

He's kind of leading the charge with all over the world.

So some of the leading academic institutions are doing a quite a bit of research on this.

So again this is kind of a global thing to be able to say, hey, how can we eradicate some of these cancers through through gene editing.

And so this is where the future of medicine, this is where the technologies all come into play, which is very exciting.

It is exciting.

And what about viruses?

Yeah.

And you know, it seems like there's a lot of bugs out there.

Say the common cold.

Yes.

Of course.

Coronavirus, studying microbiology in medical school, we always talk coronaviruses.

The common cold, the adenovirus, the the Norwalk virus.

Right.

They call it the cruise ship virus.

So many viruses are certainly popping up.

And that's where I'm a firm believer of the immune system.

If we can keep our immune systems very high, we're going to see a lot more, you know, a lot less, viruses happening.

But it's a big topic.

Which virus is going to be next?

The coronaviruses are going to be one, you know, up and coming.

I think top ten of virus is really interesting in the transplant space.

That's where you see, again, I think more of some of these, viruses popping up.

So there's an every different aspect, different viruses.

So what's the future of immunity?

Yeah.

What's going on today?

What's kind of the highest level of immunity building right now?

And where do you think that's going?

Yes, I think it goes back to to sleep and exercise and keeping your body in a very homeostasis, a very balanced state I think is absolutely huge for immune system.

So getting adequate sleep, adequate water, the exercise, all that's going to boost your immune system.

And I do think overall happiness I think the mental health aspect, the social groups all contributes to your immune system.

And I think if that's at an elevated chance, you have a less chance of of heart disease, of cancers and things that that really certainly pop up.

Right.

So has an individual future of medicine in your life?

Yes.

This factor is so big.

Yes.

Positive attitude.

Absolutely.

I think all that because I think some of the sadness, some of the depression that people face lowers your immune system.

And I think that can cause a lot of illnesses.

I think it's something to to think about.

It sounds very simplistic.

Hey, stay positive.

But I think if we can keep keep healthy and keep happy and do things that that really bring a lot of joy and surround ourselves by really good people, as we age, I think is really important.

Do you think that that sadness factor can impact cancer and bigger?

Absolutely, because that's lowering your immune system.

And I think that that triggers it.

Right.

So I think even if you have that genetic component, somehow that something triggers that gene to be expressed and it gets triggered.

I think that's when cancers start developing.

Wow.

That's huge.

Yes.

So really the future just comes back to just circles all the way back.

Yes.

Stress, happiness, staying social.

Exactly.

Just some of the small things.

Right.

And I think being proactive catching things earlier.

And that's where medicine right now is going is catching things earlier upstream before things happen.

Well that is exciting.

Yes.

Thank you so much.

Of course.

Yeah.

Thanks, Katherine.

Yes.

It's a pleasure being here.

Thank you.

And thank you for watching.

If you have questions about this topic or anything else that we cover, reach out to us at Empowering Seniors at K-P-T-S dot org, or give us a call at 316-686-4500.

I'm Katherine Ambrose and I'll see you on the next Empowering Seniors.

Rolling.

Okay.

Okay.

Deep breath.

But how slow happens?

Three.

Two.

One.

On the next Empowering Seniors, we're talking to Doctor Dan O'Brien about the future of medicine.

Nice.

Okay.

I'm ready.

Okay.

I'm ready.

Okay, I'll do it.

Two, one.

I'm Katherine Ambrose, and that's on the next empowering Seniors.

Good.

Okay.

Ready?

Three.

Two.

One.

Tonight on empowering seniors, we're talking to Doctor Dan O'Brien about the future of medicine.

That's tonight on empowering seniors.

I'm Katherine.

Oh, okay.

Good.

I didn't like the way my head was bouncing.

I just do that.

Okay.

Ready?

Three.

Two.

One.

That's tonight on empowering seniors.

Give me your name.

Oh, sorry.

Ready?

Three.

Two.

One.

I'm Katherine Ambrose, and that's tonight on empowering seniors.

Nice.

Okay.

Okay.

One more.