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- Health
- Yahoo
Western Sydney University team develops AI tool for type 1 diabetes
A research team led by Western Sydney University in Australia has developed an AI-powered tool that could evaluate the development risk of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and forecast treatment responses. The tool utilises microRNAs, small RNA molecules from blood, to create a Dynamic Risk Score (DRS4C) that distinguishes those with or without T1D. The DRS4C was developed after analysing molecular data from 5,983 study samples across Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), India, New Zealand, and the US. With AI utilisation, the risk score was further validated in 662 subjects, predicting which individuals would remain insulin-free an hour post-therapy. The microRNA markers forecasted early responses to treatments such as islet transplantation and the drug imatinib. This new risk score captures the changing risk of T1D and can differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The university's School of Medicine and Translational Health Research Institute professor Anand Hardikar highlighted the significance of this advancement, given that current T1D testing methods have not seen major changes for years. Hardikar said: 'T1D risk prediction is timely, with therapies that can delay T1D progression becoming recognised and available. Since early-onset T1D before the age of ten years is particularly aggressive and linked to up to 16 years of reduced life expectancy, accurately predicting progression gives doctors a powerful tool to intervene sooner.' Lead researcher Dr Mugdha Joglekar from the School of Medicine and Translational Health Research Institute distinguished between genetic and dynamic risk markers, noting that the genetic testing provided a static risk view. The study involved 79 researchers from 33 institutions across seven nations. Funding for this research was provided by entities such as Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF Australia), the Australian Research Council, and the National Health and Medical Research Council, with additional backing from Western Sydney University and the Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy. "Western Sydney University team develops AI tool for type 1 diabetes" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error al recuperar los datos Inicia sesión para acceder a tu cartera de valores Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos
India Today
21-04-2025
- Health
- India Today
The malnutrition blight: Why 40% of Gujarat kids under 5 are underweight
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue April 2025)The Census suggested that 7.8 million children should be enrolled in AWCs, but the CAG report showed only 4.1 million, indicating a 'massive gap'—between 2015-16 and 2022-23, some 3.7 million children (48.1 per cent) had missed out on the supplementary nutritional diet provided at anganwadis. Also, only 18.8 per cent of those in the 3-6 age group were enrolled in the AWCs for preschool advertisement AWCs offer a range of critical services in backward areas of India's rural and urban landscape. This is where children, lactating mothers, pregnant women and adolescent girls get supplementary nutrition; children gain access to key health services like vaccination; and mothers and families get educated on childcare, hygiene and nutrition. For children aged 3-6 years, preschool education is also offered. The anganwadis play a pivotal role in controlling malnutrition and stunting among growing children, so when a report highlights 48.1 per cent of them 'missing', it's shorthand for how poorly Gujarat is doing on a range of social and health indices. And this is despite an array of schemes and budgetary allocations. The NITI Aayog's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2023-24, released in July 2024, said that nearly 40 per cent of children in Gujarat under five are underweight or stunted, and over 38 per cent of the population is undernourished. The state also lags behind many peers in addressing the issue of hunger. Gujarat's performance is concerning as its SDG-2 score has dropped from 49 in 2018 to 41 in 2019, and now stabilised at 46 in 2023-24, suggesting limited progress in tackling malnutrition.'Tribal areas are the worst affected due to landscape and distance,' says social activist Neeta Hardikar, whose NGO Anandi has been working in the tribal regions of Gujarat to spread awareness about health, education and women's empowerment. 'In aspirational districts like Dahod, AWC numbers have not increased. But the biggest concern is the staff. Just two people per anganwadi is too little. Workers are stretched thin and unable to give quality attention to women and children.'The SDG Index also notes that 62.5 per cent of pregnant women aged 15-49 in Gujarat are anaemic, contributing to intergenerational malnutrition cycles. 'Intergenerational malnutrition requires persistent intervention. Initial findings of a recent study we did on food security across 30 households of each village in five talukas of Dahod district revealed that only two of the five food types prescribed for a nutritive diet show up on their plate on an average day,' says Hardikar. 'Allocated ration is not enough and does not reach intended beneficiaries.'advertisement In the past four months, the Bhupendra Patel government has announced two new initiatives to counter malnutrition—the Mukhyamantri Paushtik Alpahar Yojana to provide protein-rich snacks to students in state-run and grant-in-aid schools with budgetary funds of Rs 607 crore annually; and the Nutrition Mission, with an allocation of Rs 75 crore to enhance obstetric and newborn care. The MoWCD submitted in the Lok Sabha in December 2024 that the proportion of stunted children in Gujarat dropped from 53.6 per cent in 2022 to 40.8 per cent in 2024; the share of underweight children fell from 23.1 to 21 per cent over the same there is a long way to go. Hardikar says schemes and allocations don't translate into results on the ground. 'Anganwadi workers are not trained for the complex job at hand. Understanding around contraception is still abysmally low. Child and maternal mortality from malnutrition is under-reported as the anganwadi and ASHA workers are in denial. Any discussion on the issue at the gram sabhas is only to demand explanations; we need constructive feedback sessions rather than a punitive process,' she says. 'Keeping up the morale of the anganwadi and ASHA workers is critical here.'advertisementSubscribe to India Today Magazine
