HEALTH

W

ith the new year comes a host 
of promising health trends 
emerging within the medical 
community. New tests, diagnostics and 
advancements are streamlining the patient 
experience and helping people take charge 
of their physical and mental health.
Dr. Sandra Lerner, D.O., a Jewish 
Southfield-based family medicine doctor, 
discusses the top health trends the medical 
community is expecting to see in 2024 and 
why they matter.

INCREASED FOCUS ON LONGEVITY
Longevity science is learning more and 
more about proteins that can predict lon-
gevity, or the length of life. Now, Lerner says 
that advancements in blood tests can test 
“subtle” markers that have some bearing on 
inflammatory levels in the body; research 
shows that suppressing chronic or long-term 
inflammation can promote successful lon-
gevity.
So, what exactly are these tests looking 
for and why? Certain inflammatory mark-
ers can now predict the risk of Alzheimer’s 
disease or a person’s immediate cardiovas-
cular (or heart health) risk. Lerner says 
there’s also more attention being paid to the 
breakdown of cholesterol in the body, which 
is linked to inflammation and, therefore, 
longevity.
Most of these tests aren’t part of routine 
testing covered in a physical, which means 
they aren’t readily covered by insurance. 
However, their emergence is a promising 
sign of the evolution of health testing in 
longevity. Availability of these tests may vary 
from physician to physician, so interested 
individuals should speak to their doctors.

AT-HOME SLEEP APNEA TESTING
Sleep apnea is a common condition in 
which your breathing stops and restarts 

while sleeping. Lerner says that sleep 
apnea may come with preconceptions, 
such as only affecting older men who 
are obese. However, she cautions this is 
far from true.
Lerner says that 50% of women over 
the age of 50 have sleep apnea (though 
some studies predict a much larger age 
range of 20-70 years of age). Many of 
these women may not even know they 
have sleep apnea but face significant 
sleep disruptions that can affect their 
wellbeing, risk of depression and anxi-
ety, and overall health.
In previous years, sleep apnea testing 
was typically done at a sleep clinic, which 
not only can have months-long waits for an 
appointment but also can place significant 
stress on patients. Between sleeping in an 
unknown environment, to being hooked up to 
wires, clinical sleep apnea testing might steer 
people away from getting tested altogether.
Now, more and more services are offering 
at-home sleep apnea testing, which allows 
people to complete the actual testing por-
tion at home, as well as be fitted for a CPAP 
machine if a machine is required to help open 
the airways.
There are also less bulky treatment options 
available for sleep apnea, Lerner says, such 
as implantable devices that allow tissues to 
respond during low-oxygen episodes. An 
increased use of sleep-tracking devices like 
Aura can also help pinpoint sleep apnea. 
 
IMPROVEMENTS IN DIAGNOSTICS
New advancements in diagnostics are mak-
ing waves in 2024. These include advanced 
genetic testing for obesity, which is helping 
to break the stigma surrounding the disease. 
“It’s not a condition where we just have poor 
willpower,” Lerner says. “[These tests] start to 
create the sense of, ‘This is a condition I need 
to manage like other health conditions.’”

Full-body MRIs are also now being 
offered at more and more clinics, which 
Lerner explains are affordable and readily 
available for the first time. “It diagnoses 
everything from degenerative disc disease to 
lethal cancers that can be treated early,” she 
says.
MRIs also have less radiation than other 
diagnostic tests, making them a safer option 
for many. One patient, she explains, was 
able to discover a kidney tumor that was 
removed just in time thanks to the availabil-
ity of a full-body MRI scan.
Multi-cancer early genetic screening tests 
like the Galleri test can also screen for more 
than 50 types of cancer from a single blood 
test. As emerging trends, Lerner explains 
many of these tests still aren’t covered by 
insurance but are a worthwhile option for 
people curious about their health or with 
elevated risks for certain diseases.
“These trends are ahead of the curve,” 
she says, but the hope is their continued 
widespread use will lead to their insurance 
coverage down the line. For now, 2024 is 
shaping up to be a promising year with 
numerous advancements improving health-
care. 

Southfield doctor breaks down this 
year’s main medical advancements.

Top Health Trends 
of 2024

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

28 | JANUARY 25 • 2024 J
N

Dr. Sandra Lerner

