Year: 2026
Type: review
Abstract: Modern healthcare systems prioritize diagnostic technologies such as blood tests, imaging, and genetic screening, while systematically neglecting the fundamental human capacity for movement. This paradox is especially striking given that movement is the primary evolutionary function of the human body and a powerful predictor and determinant of health outcomes across the lifespan. Growing evidence suggests that limitations in movement capacity initiate a cascade of physiological deterioration that manifests as frailty, cognitive impairment, and premature mortality. Yet despite its centrality to healthy human function and lifespan, movement remains peripheral in clinical practice, often evaluated informally or only after a significant decline has occurred. Here, we argue for a movement-centered healthcare infrastructure that places mobility assessment and intervention at the core of clinical decision-making. We examine the scientific rationale, economic consequences, and broad societal benefits of prioritizing locomotion alongside traditional diagnostics. Ultimately, we propose that movement analysis should be elevated to the level of routine, sophisticated practice-on par with today's laboratory diagnostics-restructuring healthcare around the proactive enhancement and lifelong preservation of human mobility.
Authors: Madhur Mangalam, Jessica Fabianiak
Institution: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Language: English
Topic: Physical Activity and Health
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,353
OpenAlex ID: W7160490202