Modern medicine is embracing hi-tech advances but the real future may lie in ‘functional medicine’, that focuses on eliminating root causes of disease, writes Marika Sboros TAKE out your crystal ball for a peek in the future of modern medicine, and the picture that emerges is bright.Science fiction is becoming fact as modern medicine embraces hi-tech advances, along with surgical, procedural and pharmaceutical developments that boost the power to save lives, and fight off a host of serious illnesses.It’s also true, though, that this "hymn of praise" is not the full picture. Medicine is increasingly being undermined by negative steps and doubts, a function in part of the relationship between doctors and drug companies that grows ever cosier, and which is proving to have an insidious effect on treatment guidelines.Dr Eric Campbell is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who has researched conflicts of interest in treatment guidelines, and is quoted as saying: "At the end o...
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