Unsolved Medical Problems

In other high IQ societies, most members are ordinary people who have not excelled at school or in their careers, but are proud of having performed well in an intelligence test once in their lives.

In contrast, Prudentia aims to attract innovative and ambitious high achievers who are willing to work for the good of humanity.

As part of the Prudentia High IQ Society, I would like to launch an initiative to develop and publish your own hypotheses on unsolved scientific questions. This would be the ideal application of high intelligence and creativity for the benefit of humanity. It would be a good complement to research at universities and institutions, which tend to focus on the use of new methods and technologies.
 
Here is a list of unsolved scientific problems in medicine. I would be interested in your opinion on them!
 
Fundamentals of biomedicine
  • Aging: Why do cells and organisms age? What molecular mechanisms control aging, and can the process be slowed down or even reversed?
  • Consciousness & the brain: How does subjective experience arise in the brain? What neural processes lead to consciousness, self-awareness, and intelligence?
  • Genetics: How do genes, epigenetics, and the environment interact in detail? Why do certain mutations lead to serious diseases in some people but not in others?
  • The origin of cancer: Why do some cells degenerate into cancer cells while others with similar mutations remain stable?
Neurology & Psychiatry
  • Alzheimer's & dementia: The exact causes and effective cures are still unknown.
  • Parkinson's: The mechanisms of progression and effective neuroprotective therapies are unclear.
  • Depression & schizophrenia: The neurobiological basis is only partially understood, and treatment is often inadequate.
  • Epilepsy: Why do seizure foci develop and why do they often remain resistant to medication?
Infectious diseases & immunology
  • HIV cure: With a few exceptions, a complete cure has not yet been achieved.
  • Resistance: Increasing antibiotic resistance without clear new classes of active substances.
  • Autoimmunity: Why does the immune system attack the body in diseases such as MS, lupus, or type 1 diabetes?
  • Long-term consequences of viral infections: E.g., post-COVID syndrome, ME/CFS – mechanisms are unclear.
Cardiovascular & metabolism
  • Atherosclerosis: Why do some people never have a heart attack or stroke despite similar risk factors?
  • Obesity: Why does the brain regulate body weight differently? Is there a “set point” system?
  • Type 2 diabetes: Why do some people not develop diabetes despite being overweight, while others develop it very early on?
Oncology
  • Metastasis: How exactly do cancer cells spread throughout the body, and why do they prefer to settle in certain organs?
  • Tumor heterogeneity: Why do some tumors respond to immunotherapies, while others do not?
  • Dormancy: How can cancer cells “sleep” for years and then become active again later?
Clinical practice & society
  • Organ transplantation: How can chronic rejection reactions be completely prevented?
  • Regeneration: How can damaged tissue (e.g., heart muscle after a heart attack, nerve tissue) be effectively restored?
  • Personalized medicine: How can therapies be precisely tailored to the genetic and biochemical situation of each individual?
  • Global health: How can medical innovations be made fairly accessible worldwide?

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