Part of the 'information we need to protect our own health' is to be aware of our risk of developing specific diseases at some point in the future.
Extracts from Guardian news below. Read online: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/sep/17/new-ai-tool-can-predict-...
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'Scientists have developed a new artificial intelligence tool that can predict your personal risk of more than 1,000 diseases, and forecast changes in health a decade in advance.
'Details of the breakthrough were published in the journal Nature...
The tool works by assessing the probability of whether – and when – someone may develop diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease and many other disorders.
Named Delphi-2M, it looks for “medical events” in a patient’s history, such as when illnesses were diagnosed, together with lifestyle factors such as whether they are or were obese, smoked or drank alcohol, plus their age and sex.
Ewan Birney, the EMBL interim executive director, said patients might be able to benefit from the tool within the next few years.
“You walk into the doctor’s surgery and the clinician is very used to using these tools, and they are able to say: ‘Here’s four major risks that are in your future and here’s two things you could do to really change that.’
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An article in The Economist notes that 'it might also help health authorities allocate budgets for disease areas that may need extra funds in the future'.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org