More than six million Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease, and one in three older adults die with the disease, according to statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association.
With so many different factors, genetics, lifestyle, and environment affect a person risk of developing Alzheimer’smany doctors are moving away from one-size-fits-all approaches and are demanding more personalized treatments.
It’s a concept known as precision medicine. And that’s what inspired a company called uMETHOD to create RestoreU, a tool that uses artificial intelligence to help doctors create personalized care plans for patients with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
In Alzheimer’s study, sleeping pills are shown to reduce signs of disease in the brain
“Dementia is what is called a complex disease,” CEO Vik Chandra, co-founder and CEO of uMETHOD Health in Cary, North Carolinahe said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“This means that there are multiple underlying causes that ultimately lead a patient to develop dementia over time.”
Many of these 50-plus causes can actually be treated with available medications and interventions, he said. But because doctors spend only about eight minutes on average with each patient, they often don’t have enough time to extensively evaluate the patient and address treatable causes.
More than six million Americans live with Alzheimer’s, and one in three seniors dies from the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. (Stock)
The RestoreU system acts like a kind of doctor’s assistant, Chandra said.
“Its job is not to help the doctor diagnose the patient, but to help the doctor evaluate the treatable causes and then put the patient on the correct treatment,” he explained.
“It’s really about improving care,” he added. “It’s not about seeing how far they might be or if they have dementia, it’s about what to do to help that patient’s cognitive health.”
“When we are dealing with human health, with people’s lives, making incorrect recommendations or making mistakes is simply unacceptable.”
The RestoreU AI tool is most effective for patients who are starting to notice mild cognitive impairment and are in the early stages of dementia, Chandra told Fox News Digital.
“The data show us that about 10% of the population over the age of 65 or just over six million people have dementia, and another 20% or so have mild cognitive impairment,” he said.
How does it work
Through a partnership with Quest Diagnostics, uMETHOD has rolled out its AI service to physicians, who can order the service through the electronic patient record.
Once the physician orders the service, it triggers extensive information exchange between the physician’s electronic health record systems and Quest Diagnostics, Chandra explained.
ALZHEIMER DIAGNOSIS EXPECTED TO REACH NEAR 13 MILLION BY 2050, NEW REPORT SAYS
“It gives the doctor a wealth of information about the underlying causes of cognitive decline, whether it’s medications, beta-amyloid, the thyroid gland, vitamin B12, or lifestyle issues like sleep,” she said.
Afterwards, RestoreU provides a report to the doctor on how to treat the patient, including adding or changing medications.
The doctor gets a comprehensive plan that he can use to “decide the direction of care for the individual patient,” Chandra said. “Everything is customized to the needs of that particular patient.”
Historically, medical care has been based on general guidelines that can be difficult to adapt to each patient’s nuances, the doctor said. (Stock)
Patient privacy is protected throughout the process, he noted.
“We operate our infrastructure in a HIPAA compliant manner that maintains the security and integrity of patient data,” Chandra said.
Artificial intelligence could have huge potential for Alzheimer’s
Mark Dredze, associate professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Marylandis a big proponent of using artificial intelligence in the treatment of dementia patients.
“Caring for patients with cognitive decline is particularly complex and requires integrating multiple sources of information into a single care plan,” he told Fox News Digital.
“AI has the potential to integrate different types of patient data into an actionable treatment plan.”
Historically, medical care has been based on general guidelines that can be difficult to adapt to each patient’s nuances, he explained.
“AI has the potential to integrate different types of patient data into an actionable treatment plan.”
“The potential for AI in medicine is enormous, as it can combine many different types of information into a personalized plan for each patient,” Dredze added.
At the same time, however, he stressed the importance of understanding the biases and risks of these technologies in order to increase the level of care for all patients.
The AI tool in action
Dr. Ashish Sachdeva, an internal medicine doctor in Peoria, Arizonawho has used the RestoreU AI tool for his patients for the past five years, calls it a “no-brainer” for any primary care physician.
“It sets a benchmark and lifelong care plan for healthy living,” she told Fox News Digital. “With the report’s insights, clinicians can identify potentially reversible causes of cognitive decline, such as medication side effects or hormonal imbalances, that mimic dementia.”
“AI has the potential to make precise treatment recommendations, allowing physicians to personalize care for each patient,” one expert told Fox News Digital. (Stock)
“The information can also help identify measures to potentially slow or, if possible, halt the progression of dementia disease,” added Sachdeva.
The tool offers the doctor a comprehensive plan with lab reports, social history, drug history, psychological history, and recommendations for lifestyle changes, including diet, sleep, exercise, and stress management.
“It’s all a primary care physician should do anyway, but it’s all laid out on a plate,” Sachdeva said.
EARLY ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE COULD BE DIAGNOSTIC THROUGH PHYSICAL TESTS, NEW STUDY SUGGESTS
A key benefit of cognitive AI tools is their ability to identify risk factors early, he said.
“If you want to kicka– 90 years, the process should start at 50,” Sachdeva told Fox News Digital.
“This report helps you identify risk factors and consider lifestyle changes, medication changes, supplementation, and other actions that will help achieve that goal.”
There is no one-size-fits-all solution
With the exception of identical twins, no two humans are alike, Chandra said. That’s why she believes in the power of precision medicine, which involves treatments that are targeted to the specific needs of a particular patient.
Through a partnership with Quest Diagnostics, uMETHOD has rolled out its AI service to physicians, who can order the service through the electronic patient record. (Stock)
“The underlying causes of what leads to a patient’s chronic disease, such as cognitive decline, vary significantly from one patient to another,” he said.
Among the 10,000 patients the AI tool has served to date, 52 percent of them have one or more causes of cognitive decline, and they vary from person to person, Chandra said.
ALZHEIMER DIAGNOSIS EXPECTED TO REACH NEAR 13 MILLION BY 2050, NEW REPORT SAYS
“Treatment and interventions should be very specific to that particular patient, addressing the very causes that exist in that individual,” he said. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution.”
In addition to improving patient outcomes, Chandra believes precision medicine will also significantly reduce the cost of care, as the patient will not be put on expensive drugs and treatments that ultimately don’t work for them.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
But with that precision comes a certain responsibility, the doctor said.
With hundreds of different AI algorithms, it’s important to understand how systems are reaching their conclusions.
One of the key benefits of cognitive AI tools is their ability to identify risk factors early, said one doctor. (Stock)
“The classes of algorithms that uMETHOD applies are always of the nature that can account for why they have come to a particular set of conclusions, why they have made a particular set of treatment recommendations,” he said.
“When they were take care of human healthwith people’s lives, making incorrect recommendations or making mistakes is simply unacceptable.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“We’ve been very, very careful in selecting the appropriate set of algorithms so clinicians can increasingly rely on our solutions to deliver the best care to those patients,” he added.
Going forward, Chandra said uMETHOD aims to implement solutions that focus more on prevention, aiming to catch early signs before patients end up in the dementia stage.
#tool #offers #clinicians #personalized #Alzheimers #treatment #plans #dementia #patients