Latest news with #diagnosing
The Star
2 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Big Smile, Not Teeth: Soon, we won't be the smartest on the planet anymore
CEO of AI startup Anthropic, Dario Amodei issued a stark warning that AI is going to eliminate 50% of entry-level white collar jobs in the next five years. Bad news for people who like working to pay for housing, food, and life. Artificial intelligence (AI) researcher, and CEO of AI startup Anthropic, Dario Amodei issued a stark warning that AI is going to eliminate 50% of entry-level white collar jobs in the next five years, and could raise unemployment in the United States to 20%. He noted that the American general public and politicians are unaware, and that society 'can't just sleepwalk into it'. Is this claim overblown? Is AI really going to disrupt society? Yes. Absolutely, the robots are coming for our jobs. I see no way around it and anyone who says different either doesn't know what they're talking about or is lying. Well, that's what I believe anyway. Let's start with the good news (because my editor says I need to soften the blow). AI will make some jobs easier, more efficient, and less eye-dryingly boring. Imagine if spreadsheets updated themselves. Imagine if you wanted to create an app for your kids and all you had to do was ask an AI program to write it for you. Imagine calling a helpline and getting immediate and relevant help because the call centre is run by helpful AI agents. This future is already partially here and will be fully embraced in the coming years. So hooray! Things get easier, more functional, and if you were working in that call centre, chances are you're happy to leave the stressful life of call centre operator and go do anything else (I had a friend who routinely vomited daily before reporting for her job in a call centre). But now here's the bad news. AI isn't just going to take over the boring menial jobs, or the ones where people get verbally abused over the phone. AI is going to be composing music, shooting content for film and TV, analysing court cases, doing your taxes, diagnosing your illness, and possibly very soon, writing the majority of what you read online. AI has read every book, watched every TED Talk, and knows, or is going to know, how to do everyone's job. And I'm no exception. Take Google's new Veo 3 video generator. It can generate lifelike visuals and native audio. Basically, it's like having a film crew except that film crew can shoot content anywhere in the world, anywhere in time, anything you can dream up. As these tools get more complex and targeted to the film and TV industry, it becomes easier to see how the media industry in two to five years will only need a few people at the top to create content. The storytellers. Everyone else? VFX, gone. The whole crew to light and shoot? Gone. The production assistants running around on set. Gone. AI-generated video is going to disrupt the mature film and TV markets and level the playing field with the lower budget markets. And this same example is going to happen in all industries AI touches. This is why Anthropic's CEO sees AI disrupting entry level jobs. We still need expertise to lead AI. AI can generate content but it will be our human subjectivity that dictates what is good and what isn't. It's just that we won't need as many people as we used to, to get there. But surely jobs that need a human touch are safe? Not so much. A new study titled 'Is ChatGPT more empathetic than humans?' concluded that ChatGPT responses are rated 10% higher in empathy than human responses. This means AI can emulate empathetic communication. The bedside manner needed to be a doctor? AI can do that. How about having an AI therapist? AI is there. And AI will never get tired of hearing about your problems. It's good, but also very scary how many of us will fall into the 'AI is our best friend' rabbit hole. So what do we do? What humans have always done. Adapt. Learn. In the future, jobs perhaps will be less like identities and more like skillsets that some people have or don't have. Maybe working nine to five until we're seniors shouldn't be the goal to begin with. No one really knows, but AI is going to rewrite what it means to live and work. Above all else, our time as the smartest thing on this planet is coming to an end, so enjoy that while it lasts. Avid writer Jason Godfrey – a model who once was told to give the camera a 'big smile, no teeth' – has worked internationally for two decades in fashion and continues to work in dramas, documentaries and lifestyle programming. Write to him at lifestyle@ and follow him on Instagram @bigsmilenoteeth and The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.
India Today
6 days ago
- Health
- India Today
CT scan and MRI facilities to start soon in Delhi Government hospitals
Good news for people living in Delhi: The Delhi government is soon going to start CT scan and MRI facilities in its government hospitals. Health Minister Pankaj Singh has confirmed that the necessary process for launching these services is already day, thousands of patients visit government hospitals in Delhi for treatment. However, most of them face long delays in getting an MRI scan, which is crucial for diagnosing serious health issues. Currently, out of 36 government hospitals in the capital, only three hospitals, LNJP, GB Pant, and Indira Gandhi Hospital, offer MRI to this shortage, patients either wait for several months for their scan or pay a high price to get it done in private centres. To solve this problem, the Delhi government has decided to provide these facilities in more hospitals. MRI in 34 Hospitals, CT Scans in 12The government will now roll out MRI scan services in 34 hospitals and CT scan services in 12 hospitals. However, patients may have to pay up to Rs 2,400 for the scan. These services are likely to be provided under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, which will help reduce the financial burden on comparison, private centres charge anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 for an MRI to Health Minister Pankaj Singh, the availability of these services will not only make the treatment process faster but also provide much-needed relief to patients. In many cases, the patient's condition is critical, and an MRI is urgently needed. "But due to a lack of machines, treatment often gets delayed,' he MRI and CT Scans MatterMRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is a modern and detailed diagnostic test that helps doctors understand the condition inside the body clearly. It is especially important in detecting serious illnesses like cancer and brain launched, this step by the Delhi government is expected to make healthcare more accessible, affordable, and efficient for ordinary people.
RTÉ News
03-06-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
What is CTE and why does it matter for Irish athletes?
Analysis: Brain injuries in sport are a growing public health issue that affects players at all levels, from local community teams to seasoned professionals By Chris Greene, RCSI Whether it's a clash of heads during a rugby tackle, a late hit in Gaelic football, or a crunching collision on the soccer pitch, head impacts in sport are unfortunately part of the game. But what are the long-term consequences? And what should we be doing about them, especially here in Ireland? Brain injuries in sport aren't just a concern for elite athletes or international stars, they're a growing public health issue that affects players at all levels, from local community teams to seasoned professionals. In the United States alone, an estimated 1.6 to 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur every year. But not all head knocks result in a full-blown concussion. In fact, many more go under the radar as "sub-concussive" impacts, blows that might not cause obvious symptoms but still impact the brain. There is mounting evidence that it is the cumulative effect of these repeated, lower impact hits; not just the number of concussions, that plays a key role in the development of a serious condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). From RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, Ombudsman waiting eight years for children's sport concussion policy What is CTE? CTE is a progressive brain disease linked to repeated head injuries. It's been seen in boxers, American footballers, rugby players, and increasingly in other contact sports like soccer or MMA. At present, it can only be definitively diagnosed after death, during an autopsy. Neuropathologists look for an abnormal build-up of a protein called tau, which clusters around small blood vessels in the brain. This build-up appears to damage nearby brain tissue and over time may lead to memory loss, mood swings, and confusion. Because diagnosing CTE in living individuals remains a challenge, researchers have developed a set of clinical guidelines called Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome (TES). Think of TES as a way to spot red flags like memory problems or changes in behaviour in people with a history of head injuries. These criteria, updated by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) in 2021, were developed by studying confirmed CTE cases. While TES does not provide a definitive diagnosis, it indicates the possibility of trauma-related brain injury. Ongoing international projects, like DIAGNOSE CTE, are trying to find ways to detect signs of the disease earlier, but we're not quite there yet. From CNN, Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains the causes and symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy What's the role of the blood-brain barrier? One of the most important and least understood players in this story is something called the blood-brain barrier (BBB). It's a kind of security gate that protects the brain from harmful substances in the bloodstream. Disruptions to the BBB have been seen in many neurological disorders, including traumatic brain injury. In CTE, researchers have found that the protective barrier may start to leak, allowing toxic proteins or inflammatory molecules to seep into brain tissue. Our research group, alongside others, has found that athletes exposed to repetitive head injury, even without a diagnosed concussion, can show signs of this barrier breaking down. It's not just in American football or boxing; similar patterns are being investigated in Irish rugby and GAA players too. Ireland isn't just watching from the sidelines. A collaborative project between RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, and St James's Hospital is exploring how repeated head trauma affects the blood-brain barrier and how this might contribute to memory issues or cognitive decline in later life. The project, funded by Research Ireland, uses advanced imaging techniques, such as dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, to measure BBB health in retired athletes. What's striking is that even years after leaving the sport, some former players still show signs of brain changes. The next step is to understand how this relates to things like depression, memory loss, or dementia. Why it matters Traumatic brain injuries have been linked with a higher risk of conditions like dementia, mood disorders, and even suicide. In the US, retired American footballers are five times more likely to develop dementia. But this isn't just an American story. A Scottish study found that former professional soccer players were 3.5 times more likely to die from a neurodegenerative disease. Swedish studies have shown similar findings. While Irish data is still emerging, there are real concerns for former rugby players here at home. Rugby only turned professional in the mid-1990s, so we're just beginning to understand the long-term impacts on those who played at the top level. From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, Consultant Neurologist at the Mater Professor Tim Lynch on concussions in sport A game of balance Sport is a vital part of Irish life. From weekend GAA matches to the roar of the Aviva on a Six Nations Day, it brings people together, builds community, and supports mental and physical health. But with this passion must come responsibility. Protecting brain health isn't about taking the joy out of sport, it's about ensuring that players can enjoy those benefits long after the final whistle. That means better awareness, smarter rules, improved protective equipment, and ongoing research into how to detect and treat brain injuries early. It also means listening to former players, parents, coaches, and medical professionals as we build a safer future for the next generation of Irish athletes.
Mid East Info
07-05-2025
- Health
- Mid East Info
One-Stop Breast Tumour Diagnosis : KFSHRC Pioneers Same-Visit Biopsy
Riyadh The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) in Riyadh has successfully implemented an advanced interventional technique for diagnosing breast tumours that are undetectable by conventional imaging methods. This innovation enables physicians to obtain precise biopsy samples during the same visit, thereby accelerating the diagnostic process and initiating earlier treatment. This shift in diagnostic approach addresses cases recorded in recent years where certain breast abnormalities could only be identified through contrast-enhanced imaging. Consequently, the hospital has adopted Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (CEM) as a precise clinical tool to overcome these diagnostic challenges. Previously, the standard protocol necessitated scheduling a separate MRI-guided biopsy following initial imaging, often leading to redundant procedures, increased patient burden, higher healthcare costs, and delayed treatment initiation. In contrast, the new CEM-guided approach facilitates immediate and accurate tissue sampling during the same imaging session, eliminating the need for additional appointments. KFSHRC brings substantial expertise to this advanced modality, having been the first to introduce contrast-enhanced mammography in the Kingdom nearly a decade ago. It remains one of the select healthcare centres in the Middle East that routinely employs this technique in clinical settings, reinforcing its diagnostic ecosystem and expediting treatment decisions with enhanced precision. It is noteworthy that KFSHRC has been ranked first in the Middle East and Africa and 15th globally in the list of the world's top 250 Academic Medical Centres for the second consecutive year and has been recognized as the most valuable healthcare brand in the Kingdom and the Middle East, according to the 2024 Brand Finance rankings. Additionally, in the same year, it was ranked among the world's best 250 hospitals and included in the World's Best Smart Hospitals list for 2025 by Newsweek magazine.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The Women's Health Initiative Is the Latest DOGE Victim—What This Means for Midlife Women's Health
In a country where women were essentially left out of major health research and clinical trials until the 1990s, we can't afford to widen the women's health research gap any further. However this week, the Trump administration's 'Department of Government Efficiency' majorly slashed research budgets for the National Institutes of Health-funded Women's Health Initiative (WHI), which is the largest and longest running project of its kind devoted to women's health, from researching menopause treatments and mental health to more. Ongoing research with the WHI has supported more than 42,000 female study participants, ranging from ages 78 to 108; some people have even been involved in the large-scale study since the early 1990s, during which over 160,000 women participated. The initiative has been responsible for diagnosing 38,000 cancer cases and documenting 38,000 cardiovascular events, according to the WHI. More from Flow Space I Tried an Under-$25 Skincare Line Created Especially for Menopausal Skin The irony is that cutting funding for decades worth of research in progress isn't by any means efficient, as the DOGE claims. 'When you think about cutting waste and fraud, it's actually creating more waste if you're not allowing people to finish the projects that they started,' says Dr. Judith Joseph, chair of the Women in Medicine Initiative at Columbia University, assistant clinical professor at NYU Langone Medical Center, psychiatrist, researcher, and author of the book High Functioning. Joseph, who has worked on both her own clinical research in a New York City-based lab that she leads and NIH-funded research throughout her career, emphasizes that cutting research short does not allow researchers to reach the essential conclusions they need to about health conditions. What else do you need to know about the implications of these research budget cuts, and is there anything that can be done about it? The answer is yes, but it needs to be an all-hands-on-deck situation. The landmark WHI study has been so monumental for understanding risk factors for certain outcomes, including heart disease in women, dementia in women, osteoporosis in women, fibroids, postpartum depression and mental health conditions related to perimenopause and menopause, says Joseph. And the point it to use this data for preventative healthcare—not just being reactive to a dementia diagnosis or a heart attack once it happens. Because women were not studied in major research trials until the early 1990s, there's still a gap in understanding everything we need to know about these conditions. So much funding is allocated to treat certain conditions, but more needs to continue to be allocated toward research to better understand the preventative side of medicine and relieve so much strain on the healthcare system. 'Half the population is understudied, and we're missing opportunities to cut waste to the healthcare system,' adds Joseph. It's crucial for research to be done, specifically in women as opposed to just in men and the data estimated or adapted for women, as it had been for decades. Certain health conditions, especially as women age, have different symptoms and effects in women than in men. 'We know that women experience more frailty than men, have more cognitive loss, present with cardiovascular disease differently than men and make up more of nursing home populations,' says Dr. Mindy Goldman, a San Francisco-based OB-GYN and chief clinical officer at Midi Health. 'Cutting off funding for critical women's health research means less understanding of cardiovascular disease in women, osteoporosis in women and cognitive loss in women.' These cuts to 30 years worth of key data are not only harmful to women's health but also diminish women's role in society, Goldman adds. But there are a few things we can do to potentially make a difference. Contact Your State Legislators 'It's true that the NIH is the largest funder of medical research in the country—but that doesn't mean that there aren't other avenues to pursue,' explains Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, an attorney, author, executive director of the Birnbaum Women's Leadership Center at NYU School of Law and Flow Space Advisory Council member. 'States are really a ripe place for these opportunities and changes, too.' It's never a waste of time to make your voice heard by your state senators and representatives. There are already 21 bills about women's midlife and menopausal health that have been introduced in 13 states, Weiss-Wolf says. The bills involve access to menopause care, the affordability of menopause care coverage and menopause education for clinical professionals and menopause awareness for the general public. Another huge goal is funding more research through state governments and state university systems so that they can still continue research outside of the NIH, shares Weiss-Wolf. Along with Let's Talk Menopause and Dr. Mary Claire Haver, Weiss-Wolf created a Citizen's Guide to Menopause Advocacy that you can follow with links to to write to or call your senators, representatives and governor about how this research and healthcare impacts your life and is necessary to your well-being. Get Involved in Research and Health Organizations on a Grassroots Basis Patients are crucial to research initiatives, especially when it comes to clinical trials, which act as treatments for diseases like cancer, for example, emphasizes Joseph. 'If we didn't have clinical research, people would not be surviving cancer,' she says. That said, patients play an important role and have a voice in the research landscape. You can go to to get involved in a study pertinent to your condition, and you can even get involved in research at local universities, suggests Joseph. So many organizations advocate for women's health too, from the American Heart Association to the Menopause Society, Joseph points out. You can get involved with any one of these organizations on a grassroots level and make sure your or your loved one's story is heard. 'Your condition matters, and there are human stories behind these conditions,' Joseph says. Talk to Your Own Healthcare Providers For anyone who receives healthcare through a university hospital system, your provider could be involved in key research. Joseph recommends asking your clinician how their work, if they also do research, may be impacted and what changes might affect patients. It's important to know whether or not you'll still be able to see this practitioner who already has been working with you. Some details about the research budget cuts remain unknown, so it's important to do some digging about how this can impact you on a local level. Know That Individual Companies Can Still Fund Private Research Along with university systems, individual pharmaceutical and supplement companies need to continue crucial women's health research, says Dr. Alyssa Dweck, chief medical officer of Bonafide Health and Menopause Society-certified practitioner. Her company, Bonafide, runs privately-funded research in conjunction with academic institutions about the safety and efficacy of women's health and menopausal wellness products. Because the academic institutions and state and federal governments are not funding the research, it can still continue, according to Dweck. 'It opens up a huge opportunity to fill what might turn out to be a void in the study of hormonal health.'
