The Year Ahead In Medicine

Some major developments in health care in the coming year could be the result of events this year, CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin reports on The Early Show.

She also notes that there are numerous promising treatments in the medical pipeline for 2005.

"The painkiller Vioxx may be gone," she says, "but look for long-lasting side effects in the years to come."

Not because the painkiller and others like it have been linked to heart attack risk, but because its downfall is bound to have a major impact on the future of drug regulation, according to industry analysts like Jason Pontin. "I think people have been reminded of what the FDA is for; the FDA is to stop people from dying," he says.

The consensus, Kaledin observed, is that public health officials are going to have to do a better job in the future, especially when it comes to protecting the public from the flu.

Manufacturing problems meant we were short 50 million doses of flu vaccine this season, she points out.

If we're to prevent a recurrence, experts like Dr. Kenneth Davis say flu vaccine making technology must be modernized. "We don't want to be in a circumstance in the future where we have so few suppliers," he warns.

The race is on to perfect cell-based vaccines that can be mass produced in huge tanks. They should be available in about five years.

So is there any good news to look forward to in 2005?

Doctors say treating and diagnosing both heart disease -- our leading killer -- and cancer will see major advances in the years ahead.

As we learned from Bill Clinton's emergency heart surgery in September, the best methods of detecting heart disease aren't good enough. That's where brand new imaging technology called cardiac CT scans are expected to play a huge role.

Phyllis Laperchia had a scan done because she has high cholesterol and was having chest pains. "If this is non-invasive, less painful, why not go for it?" she asked.

After about 45 seconds, her doctor gets a complete 3D image of her heart, which some experts say could hold the key, down the road, to preventing heart attacks.

While preventing cancer remains an elusive problem, diagnosing it and treating it are on the brink of drastic change.

Cancer specialists are already seeing the potential for advances like "designer chemotherapy" -- drugs that will treat cancer based on an individual's genetic make-up.

"I think in some ways it's going to be the greatest medical breakthrough of this decade," Pontin says.

With promising things on the horizon, there remains one problem the best minds in medicine can't seem to solve: obesity.

The race is on to find a medical solution. The latest, a drug called Acomplia, promises to help fight cravings and reduce inches, but most doctors agree there will be no magic bullet.

Science and technology are expected to enable great medical advances in the years to come, but they can only do so much if Americans are unwilling to take care of themselves as best they can.