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CNN
10 hours ago
- Health
- CNN
How AI Might Be Helping Your Doctor Treat You - Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta - Podcast on CNN Audio
Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:03 Welcome to Paging Dr. Gupta. You know, I really love these episodes in large part because they're all about you. Your questions, your concerns, your curiosity, about health and medicine, topics that are near and dear to my heart. Whether it's something in the headlines or something that's happening in your own life, share it and I'll try my best to try and help break it down. New week, new questions, Kyra is back. Who do we have first? Kyra Dahring 00:00:31 Okay, we're kicking things off today with a question from Kim. She's a nurse out in Los Angeles, and she's thinking ahead about how tech might change her day to day. Here's her question: Listener Kim 00:00:41 Hi, Dr. Gupta, my name is Kim and I'm a nurse. Um, with the incoming era of AI, what's in store for the medical community, whether that's medical procedure, a surgical procedure, diagnostics, or even as simple as making our notes on the patient's medical chart. Looking forward to hear what we have. Thank you so much. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:10 'Okay, Kim, thank you very much for this. This is a topic that I think about a lot. In full disclosure, I sit on the National Academy of Medicine, and there is a subcommittee on artificial intelligence that I sit on that as well, so I've been pretty immersed in the intersection of AI and healthcare for a while. And I'll tell you two things as top lines. One is that I'm bullish on it. It's here, it's definitely here to stay. And it's already being transformative. And two is that you have probably already been affected by AI in healthcare. If you've had any kind of recent visits to the doctor, to a hospital, to a clinic, your care was probably already impacted by AI in some way. Let me break down a few basics as I often do. You will hear about two main types of AI in health care: Predictive AI and Generative AI. Okay, so predictive AI is basically analyzing large sets of data, everything from age of patients, symptoms, test results, and that can help doctors make more informed decisions. It looks at lots and lots of data. Maybe it finds lots and lot of people who are just like the person they are investigating and they say, okay, here's the problem this person had. Here's the outcomes that we see in thousands, hundreds of thousands of people around the country around the world and that helps predict what we should do best. During colonoscopies AI can for example flag polyps that might otherwise be deemed inconsequential. With mammograms, the FDA has already cleared two dozen AI tools to help spot early signs of breast cancer, predicting breast cancer. In Stroke care AI models now pinpoint the timing of a stroke sometimes twice as accurately as humans, which is really crucial because that will determine in part if someone can receive certain life-saving or life-altering treatments. Hospitals are using AI to catch signs of sepsis before they become obvious. There are also tools a company say can now detect things like bone fractures that may go undetected by the patient, signs of over a thousand diseases that may exist even before symptoms show up. And then there is generative AI, and I think that's what people often think of when they think of the ChatGPT style stuff. It's mostly happening behind the scenes. One big use case for generative AI is documentation. So maybe you've heard of Microsoft's Dragon Copilot, so this is a platform that kind of listens in during a visit and then writes up the clinical note that is generated afterwards, helps draft letters that are sent to insurance companies to get medications or procedures approved. More advanced versions combine AI with real world medical data, that's called ChatRWD, and they are continuously being tested to reliably answer doctor's clinical questions. There's a platform that I use quite a bit and I think about a quarter of physicians in the country now use it called OpenEvidence, which again is looking at these large sets of data and then using that data in real time to answer questions. How long do we wait to start aspirin after a person has had a procedure, had an operation? These are tools that I'm already using. Now, I will tell you one thing that's interesting about these platforms is that there is very high expectations of how well they will work. You know, I think a lot of people think of AI platforms like they think of a computer. If you go to your computer and you ask your computer, you know, any question you might ask... You get an answer, you sort of expect that that answer is accurate. You don't then go to another computer and ask another computer to verify what the first computer said. But AI is a little bit different in this regard. In some ways, it's less like a computer and more like a tool that is trying to replicate human consciousness, which can falter, right? So there's a trust gap. There was this 2023 survey that found most Americans feel discomfort with doctors using AI to manage their care. So high expectations, low trust. There aren't many things in society like that. I would think, for example, autonomous vehicles might fall into that category. Even though there are car accidents all the time, it's one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States, if an autonomous vehicle gets into an accident, it almost feels existential because the expectations are so much higher. So high expectations, low trust, when it comes to things like AI. AI can make mistakes. It can hallucinate, that's how it's often referred to, especially if the platform's been trained on incomplete data or biased data. Privacy is still an issue. I mean, HIPAA applies to AI platforms and healthcare, but I think that there's concerns about how might that information be stored or shared. So bottom line, Kim, AI is here. I'm bullish on it. I think it's already making an impact. It's already working in the background. It's improving diagnostics, documentation, access. But with many things in life, we often adopt a trust but verify model. And I think AI and healthcare should be treated the same way. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:06:48 Coming up, there are a lot of pain medications out there, but not all of them are right for every kind of pain. It's sometimes surprising what works best for what. I'll break it down after the break. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:03 Last week, I told you that I've been working on a book all about pain, it's called "It Doesn't Have to Hurt". It comes out September 2nd. It's something I've thinking about for a long time. Big part of writing a book like this is to try and give you some real takeaways when dealing with pain. And I thought I would start here, this podcast, Paging Dr. Gupta podcast, to share some of what I've learned. And I asked Kyra, in this case, just to give me the first question that came to her mind. Kyra Dahring 00:07:31 All right, Sanjay, well, you know what this sound means. I just had to do it, considering this is my first official page to Dr. Gupta. So my question, I'm asking this for myself and hopefully a lot of the people listening, you know, there are so many pain medications out there with all these different brand names and it's hard to know which ones are alike or when to take what. So my questions is, are they basically all the same and created equal? Or should we actually be picking different ones for different kinds of pain? Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:08:00 'Okay, that is a good place to start, Kyra, thank you. First of all, let me just preface by saying, again, that 20% roughly of the country, one in five people suffers with chronic pain. It's an enormous number. I mean, when you have chronic pain, that is your whole life. You are defined by it. So they're thinking about pain all the time, they're suffering with pain all of the time. Their mood is different, they eat differently. Everything is different because of chronic pain so this is a big issue. But let's break down the different categories. The common ones, acetaminophen, Tylenol reduces fever very well. That is a analgesic pain medication that essentially works in the brain to reduce mild to moderate pain by increasing the body's pain threshold and also changing to some extent how the body senses pain. So it actually makes the threshold at which you experience pain higher and changes the way that you actually sense it. Then you have a very large category of what are called NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. That's ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin, Naprosyn, Aleve. They reduce fever and they also block something known as prostaglandins, which are compounds that cause pain and inflammation. So they work in a different part of the pain cascade. Aspirin is also considered an NSAID, reduces pain, reduces inflammation, also reduces blood clotting. That's why a lot of people will use that as a sort of mild blood thinner. You're gonna wanna avoid NSAIDs like aspirin and ibuprofen if you are already taking blood thinners, okay? Because if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure, if you've ulcers, if you're other bleeding risks, they may thin your blood even a little bit more, probably avoid the non-steroidals. And generally speaking, ibupropin's gonna be a safer choice than aspirin for those with bleeding risks. And then after that, just in the over the counter sort of categories, you have topical pain relievers. These are anesthetics that temporary relief pain at the skin surface. Think of things like Voltaren. Obviously don't use it on open wounds or sores, but a lot of the topical pain relievers are gonna have some component of lidocaine in them. If you've ever had an allergy to lidocain, probably want to avoid this. Now, when should you use each one? So headaches, that's one of the most common sources of pain. Any of these oral painkillers could work for that. Some people will have better luck with some of them other than others. As I mentioned earlier, when it comes to fevers, Tylenol is gonna be probably a better bet. One little pro tip, if you have a headache because you've had a little too much to drink the night before, too much alcohol, then Tylenols not a good option because alcohol and Tylenol both are pretty hard on the liver. So I would avoid Tylenol certainly after a hangover. Really if you can avoid most of those medications for hangover type pain better get hydrated and the pain will pass. Now if you're talking about pain that's caused by things like arthritis, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories is what you should use. They're also best by the way for sunburn. Acetaminophen best for people who. May have gastrointestinal issues because the non-steroidal anti-inflammatories are pretty hard on the stomach. Neuropathic pain or nerve pain. So that's the sort of lancinating pain that might go down your arms or your legs, sort of stabbing or even electric-like pain sometimes. Sometimes the topical pain relievers can help there. Then there are different medications for neuropathetic pain that may require prescription as well. And those types of medications typically change the way the nerve is conducting a signal. And sometimes it just disrupts the conduction of the signal. Sometimes it slows it. But there are different medications that are totally different class of drugs than Tylenol or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories that can help with that nerve sort of pain. You know, a lot of what I write about in the book is how to best choose these medications. But a lot what the book is about is creating strategies where you hopefully never need any of these medications. Obviously everyone's going to have some pain in their life, but you can have a lot less pain, a lot less intense pain, and a much shorter duration of pain, with some pretty simple strategies. And I hope that everyone can get a better understanding of that, how to control pain, how to understand it when my book comes out, September 2nd, "It Doesn't Have To Hurt". Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:12:43 'Big thanks to everyone who sent in the questions, Kyra, thank you. We're still building the show. We're doing it together and I'm glad you're part of it. If there's something health-related you've been curious about, don't be shy, share it, record a voice memo, email it to AskSanjay@ or give us a call at 470-396-0832 and leave a message. Thanks for listening, I'll be back next Tuesday. Chasing Life is a production of CNN Audio. Our podcast is produced by Eryn Mathewson, Jennifer Lai, Grace Walker, Lori Galaretta, Jesse Remedios, Sofia Sanchez, Kyra Dahring, and Madeleine Thompson. Andrea Kane is our medical writer, our senior producer is Dan Bloom, Amanda Sealy is our showrunner, Dan Dzula is our technical director, and the executive producer of CNN Audio is Steve Lickteig. With support from JJamus Andrest, Jon Dianora, Haley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Leni Steinhardt, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Ben Tinker and Nadia Kounang of CNN Health and Wendy Brundige.
Medscape
02-06-2025
- Business
- Medscape
Measles Update: Where Are We Now?
For 30 years, pediatrician Tammy Camp, MD, of Lubbock, Texas, never once encountered a case of measles on the job. Now, that's all changed. As she told colleagues last week, that's not all that's different in West Texas, the epicenter of the 2025 measles outbreak in the Southwest. 'We're seeing mothers who are scared, crying in the clinic because they have a baby that they have delivered just 6 weeks ago and they know that the child is too young to receive a measles vaccine,' she said in a National Academy of Medicine update about the outbreak. 'Yet, they know they need to return to work because they are responsible for putting food on the table for the rest of their family members.' To make matters more complicated, Camp has to worry about disease transmission in her clinic. While Lubbock is 90 miles from the outbreak's rural ground zero in the tiny Gaines County, the city is treating many infected people, including most of the pediatric patients who've been hospitalized. There's more. 'The other thing that's been difficult has been watching our residents and faculty struggle with the pain of watching a child suffer from a disease that they know is completely preventable, something that does not have to happen,' she said. Fortunately, the measles outbreak in the Southwest seems to be slowing. 'We do believe a lot of that has to do with the community awareness of what's going on. We have increased immunity, both actively through infection and passively through vaccines,' said Tiffany Torres, MPH, MS, surveillance, epidemiology and laboratory manager at the Lubbock Public Health Department. Still, she said, 'we don't believe this outbreak is done yet.' Outbreak Spread Amid Lower Vaccination Rates As of late May, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has confirmed 1046 measles cases in 30 states and three deaths. Since 2000, only 2019 has seen more reported cases in the United States. Yvonne 'Bonnie' Maldonado, MD, professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, said measles remains one of the most infectious viruses known, with an estimated basic reproduction number (R0) of 12-15. 'This means about 12-15 susceptible individuals who are exposed to an infected individual will become infected,' she said. 'This is one of the highest, if not the highest, R0s that we know of. We need levels of about 95% population immunity in order to prevent sustained transmission,' she said. However, the percentage of US kindergarten students who've received measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinations dropped to 92.7% in the 2023-2024 school year, Maldonado said. Public Health Workers on the Frontlines In the Southwest, Lubbock Public Health Department's Torres said her team swung into action after the first measles case by setting up a mass online meeting for medical professionals across West Texas and the Panhandle. 'We wanted to spread all the guidance that we had available and offer recommendations for postexposure prophylaxis of close contacts, as well as the vaccine options for those who are eligible to receive an MMR vaccine,' she said. The health department helped with reporting, contact tracing, and testing, Torres said. 'We also increased our vaccine efforts, removing any barriers that may have been for people to receive an MMR. We identified gaps in vaccine coverage. We found those areas that may have a low vaccine rate and sent a strike team out to the areas to try to boost that vaccine coverage prevent the spread to other communities as well.' Health workers have focused special attention on daycare facilities, she said. 'We want to be sure to avoid getting any kind of infection [in infants] because it's very, very difficult to stop the transmission. Most of them cannot receive an MMR vaccine.' Building Trust and Getting Injections in Arms How can medical professionals fight back against the influence of the antivaccine movement? Heidi Larson, PhD, founder of the Vaccine Confidence Project, said her research has shown that that language matters: Messaging that focuses on 'protection' and shared responsibility tends to resonate better than language invoking 'moral obligation.' 'People's willingness [to be vaccinated] is always higher when they see it's benefiting others,' said Larson, a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University of Washington, Seattle. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Larson's team worked with platforms like YouTube to promote campaigns built around returning to valued activities — 'getting back to what you love' — rather than focusing on data alone. She also noted that in the United States, people are more likely to trust family and community leaders than physicians. 'Medical professionals are trusted, but they are part of a larger trust ecosystem. Peer influence is a powerful tool.' As she put it, 'people trust their family more than scientists. They trust friends more than scientists.' In addition, religious leaders in the US score higher than in other countries. 'These are the influencers,' she said, 'even though we still have high trust in scientists and healthcare professionals.' What does that mean for measles prevention? 'We need facts and figures, of course. But we also need to appeal to people's emotions, to stories.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bianchi: UF's new presidential pick, Santa Ono, signed off on football cheating scandal at Michigan
If there is anybody who should be thrilled about Santa Ono becoming the University of Florida's unanimous choice as the new school president, it is Florida football coach Billy Napier. As long as Napier wins at a high level — either by hook or by crook — Ono will have his back. If we've learned anything about Ono from his tenure as the president of the University of Michigan, it is that he loves a winning football team. At all costs. When the University of Florida announced a few days ago that Ono was the sole finalist to replace Ben Sasse as the next president, the news rippled far beyond Gainesville. Ono, who has served as president of the University of Michigan since 2022, is a respected academic leader with a reputation for energy, charisma and a strong belief in the power of higher education. His academic credentials are impeccable: World-renowned researcher. Ph.D. in experimental medicine from McGill University and a B.A. in biological sciences from the University of Chicago. Been on the faculty at Harvard and Johns Hopkins. Been elected to National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Inventors, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Royal Society of Chemistry. However, not listed on his long list of scholarly achievements is his most notable accomplishment at the University of Michigan: Provost Emeritus of Plausible Deniability during the Wolverines' march to the national championship two seasons ago. Ono's defining moment at Michigan didn't take place in a lab or a lecture hall, it came amid the most high-profile college football scandal in a decade — the infamous sign-stealing operation that implicated Jim Harbaugh and his staff in a sophisticated and systematic scheme to illegally gather opponents' play signals. As the Wolverines marched toward their first national title in 26 years, Ono protected Harbaugh even more diligently than Michigan's offensive line protected quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Ono stood resolutely behind Harbaugh, talking about how much he 'trusted' the head coach and how Harbaugh was — and I swear I'm not making this up — 'a man of honor.' Puh-leeze. If Harbaugh is a man of honor, then Urban Meyer was unfairly overlooked as a candidate to become the new pope. If Harbaugh is such a man of integrity, then why was he suspended for half of the regular season (six games) during the 2023 championship run for two different breaches of NCAA rules? Why did Michigan itself levy a three-game suspension of Harbaugh as a good-faith effort to penalize the coach for alleged recruiting violations in 2020 in which the NCAA says Harbaugh lied to its investigators? Why did Michigan agree to the Big Ten's additional three-game suspension of Harbaugh at the end of the season for the comprehensive sign-stealing scheme orchestrated by Harbaugh staff member Connor Stalions? And why was Stalions fired only after the blatant cheating allegations became public? And why did Michigan just self-impose a two-game suspension on current head coach Sherrone Moore — Harbaugh's former offensive coordinator — for trying to delete text messages from Stalions when the allegations first became public? Why? Because Ono and Michigan's leaders — rather than demand accountability — effectively became Harbaugh's human shield. They did whatever they could to keep the national championship train on the track, including threatening legal action against their own conference — the Big Ten — when it suspended Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season. It is believed that the only reason Michigan backed down from its legal threat is because the Big Ten agreed to close down its investigation and no longer pursue further penalties (including banning the Wolverines from representing the conference in the College Football Playoff). In other words, Ono and fellow pom-pom waving panderers were less interested in transparency than in protecting the football program's march toward a national championship. It was a perfect case study in how a university president traded an institution's integrity for a trophy. I wrote it at the time and I will reiterate it now: 'We used to think of the University of Michigan as a bastion of academic excellence, as one of the nation's premier research universities and arguably the most esteemed public university in America. Now when we think of Michigan, we think of just another sewer-dwelling, win-at-all-cost football factory that will do anything and everything in its power to win a national championship. The Wolverines, in their race to get to the top of the college football rankings, actually have sunk to the bottom of the cesspool known as college athletics.' In other words, Ono is a perfect fit in the SEC. His brand of presidential leadership — while troublesome to many — might just be music to the ears of Gator Nation, which is desperate to get its football program back on the national radar. In a hypercompetitive era of NIL deals, transfer portals and relentless pressure to win, Florida is getting a president who already has shown he won't blink when coaches push the boundaries. In fact, a case could be made that Ono's move to Gainesville might just be the UF football program's most valuable acquisition since the recruitment of DJ Lagway. The Gators now have a president who's already proven he's willing to look the other way so long as the wins keep coming. Santa Ono may have a Ph.D. in experimental medicine, but it seems his real specialty is immunology — especially when it comes to cheating football programs that win national championships. Email me at mbianchi@ Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and
