Shahzeb Khan6 days ago

AI better at predicting Alzheimer than doctors

Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease of the brain. It affects memory, thinking, and behavior, and is irreversible. 1 in 10 people over the age of 65 in the US have Alzheimer's disease, making it the 6th most common cause of death in the United States and 5th leading cause of death for those above the age of 65¹. Generally, Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed based on the signs and symptoms of dementia and ruling out other possible causes of dementia. Tests are conducted to test memory impairment, changes in behavior, and thinking skills. MRI and CT might be done to rule out other causes of Alzheimer's. Though the only way to accurately diagnose it is a brain biopsy after death. IBM and Pfizer used data from the Framingham heart study to train an AI to look for changes in speech patterns over time to check for degenerative changes. Previous attempts at predicting Alzheimers were through biomarkers in the blood and brain but these speech patterns arrive even earlier than them. The Framingham heart study followed 5000 people and their families since 1948 for changes in health and the data recorded. Using this data, the AI can predict who will get Alzheimer's disease 7 years before diagnosis with 70% accuracy. Early diagnosis can help doctors to start therapy early on. This will also help observe the progress of the disease over time which might lead to the development of a cure since when Alzheimer's is diagnosed, it has usually reached the stage where nothing can be done. References:- 1.https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/alz.12068 2.https://www.cnet.com/health/researchers-are-using-ai-to-predict-alzheimers-disease-seven-years-before-clinical-diagnosis/ 3.image credit:- https://pixabay.com/illustrations/mental-health-mental-health-head-3337026/