How many secrets a test tube of blood or a different biological liquid can hide. Within it are hidden substances, molecules, genetic traits that, if correctly decoded, can enable us to understand what is happening in the organism at a much earlier stage. In short, to move from the microscopic level of cellular units to the macroscopic health of the organ and body. Welcome, it has to be said, to the age of modern laboratory medicine, capable of proving to be a key moment in the pathway of knowledge, diagnosis, approach and monitoring of a broad spectrum of pathologies: from the most widespread and constantly increasing to rare diseases, passing through the most recent scientific evidence relating to neurodegenerative diseases, solid and oncohaematological tumours, as well as advances in medically assisted procreation treatments. The occasion comes from the SIBioC (Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-Laboratory Medicine) Congress, which opens in Florence, bringing together over 1,000 specialists for three days.
Starting with needs
The demographic trend indicates how much and how laboratory medicine is a key to sustainability for the entire health service, also in light of the growth of chronic-degenerative diseases. We are facing the consequences of a progressively ageing population and a growing ‘non-communicable pandemic’ represented by chronic-degenerative diseases, which affect more than 80% of the population over 65. The numbers say so. In Italy the over-65s amount to over 14 million, or 24% of the entire population. The over-80s number even more than 4 million and have increased by 50,000 people in just one year. Above all, diseases typical of old age, such as dementia and cognitive deficits, are frequently associated with cardiovascular disorders and chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. Thus a complex scenario emerges, which certainly, in trend terms, cannot fail to be worrying. “The national health service is called upon to face a complex epidemiological crisis that requires innovative and sustainable strategies aimed at ensuring effective and appropriate health interventions,” points out Marcello Ciaccio, national president of SIBioC. “In this context, a concrete integration between clinical medicine and laboratory medicine is an essential condition for improving therapeutic outcomes.
The challenge ahead
Clinical complexity and technological innovation, therefore, represent two faces of the same situation that sees laboratory medicine experts as a crucial hub for the future. Ciaccio confirms this. ‘We live in an ever-changing environment characterised by increasing technological innovation but also by increasing clinical complexity. It is clear that chronic degenerative diseases are steadily increasing, partly due to the spread of unhealthy lifestyles, such as smoking, obesity, sedentariness and excessive alcohol consumption. The progressive extension of life expectancy, in Italy as in other Western countries, has led to a significant increase in the burden of care and management by the healthcare system. Laboratory medicine plays a leading role in disease prevention, offering tools that can identify pathological alterations even before symptoms appear and thus enabling targeted preventive interventions to be implemented that can halt or slow down the progression of the disease’. All this, it must be said, in a path of constant collaboration between the laboratory medicine professional and the clinician.
The importance of training
‘The national congress is an opportunity to promote the integration of laboratory and clinical medicine,’ Ciaccio points out. The joint sessions will see the participation of numerous scientific societies, which are engaged with us in tackling a broad spectrum of pathologies. Laboratory medicine today represents a fundamental pillar, indispensable for an effective diagnostic and therapeutic approach. With this in mind, the containment of public expenditure and the protection of the health and wellbeing of citizens also require the constant improvement and strengthening of laboratory medicine. The first step in this process starts with prescriptive appropriateness, i.e. requesting the right test for the right patient at the right time’. Knowledge sharing and training, in this sense, are the keys to meeting present and future challenges.
link