From racial bias in medication to extra accessible Alzheimer’s medication, listed below are the well being tales you might have missed this week from Yahoo Information companions.
Biden warns AI may ‘overtake human pondering’
At a graduation handle on the Air Pressure Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, President Biden mentioned he had been warned by consultants that synthetic intelligence may “overtake human pondering.” USA Today reported that this was the president’s “most direct warning thus far” in regards to the energy of AI know-how.
“It isn’t going to be straightforward selections, guys,” Biden mentioned. “I met within the Oval Workplace with eight main scientists within the space of AI. Some are very anxious that AI can truly overtake human pondering and planning. So we have quite a bit to take care of. An unbelievable alternative, however quite a bit [to] take care of.”
The president’s remarks come days after a whole lot of leaders in AI, in addition to different public figures, released a statement saying that “mitigating the chance of extinction from AI ought to be a world precedence alongside different societal-scale dangers akin to pandemics and nuclear struggle.”
Final month, Biden met with the CEOs of AI innovation firms, together with Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, in an effort to make sure that AI merchandise are protected earlier than they’re accessible to the general public.
Lung issues in Black males are underdiagnosed as a result of racial bias in testing, examine says
A examine published on Thursday contends that 40% extra Black male sufferers can be recognized with respiratory issues akin to “bronchial asthma, power obstructive pulmonary dysfunction or lung scarring as a result of air pollutant publicity” if present diagnosis-assisting pc software program was modified to get rid of racial bias, the Associated Press reported.
Based mostly on information from greater than 2,700 Black males and 5,700 white males examined by the College of Pennsylvania Well being System, researchers checked out a generally used take a look at with a computer-generated report that scores an individual’s capability to breathe based mostly on how a lot and the way rapidly they’ll inhale and exhale. The report is created by algorithms that modify for race, which “increase the edge for diagnosing an issue in Black sufferers,” the Related Press mentioned. When evaluating the race-based algorithm with a brand new algorithm, researchers discovered that there can be practically 400 extra circumstances of lung obstruction or impairment in Black males recognized if the brand new algorithm had been used.
The American Thoracic Society, which represents lung-care medical doctors, has recommended that race and ethnicity ought to not be a think about deciphering take a look at outcomes, but in addition referred to as for extra analysis to keep away from any adjustments that might result in an overdiagnosis of lung issues.
Medicare plans to pay for Alzheimer’s medication that get FDA approval
The Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Providers (CMS) will now pay for brand spanking new Alzheimer’s medication which have acquired full Meals and Drug Administration approval, the company mentioned Thursday, on the situation that medical doctors who prescribe the medication use a authorities registry to trace sufferers’ progress and assess “how these drugs work in the real world.”
NBC News reported that till now, Medicare would solely pay for drugs if sufferers had been enrolled in a medical trial. This new improvement is prone to allow extra sufferers to afford drugs that might gradual development of the illness.
“Alzheimer’s illness takes a toll on not simply the individuals affected by the illness but in addition on their family members and caregivers, in a manner that just about no different sickness does,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure mentioned. “CMS has at all times been dedicated to serving to individuals acquire well timed entry to modern remedies that meaningfully enhance care and outcomes for this illness.”
Winter noticed a spike in uncommon pediatric mind infections, CDC experiences
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published this week discovered that whereas nonetheless very uncommon, hospitals reported the very best stage of pediatric mind infections in years this previous winter.
CBS News reported that the CDC started wanting into a possible improve in “pediatric intracranial infections” after medical doctors reported an uptick in hospitalizations, with many kids contaminated by the micro organism Streptococcus. Most Streptococcus infections result in benign sicknesses like strep throat, however on uncommon events, they’ll progress to worrying signs, “like seizures and adjustments in psychological standing.”
This previous winter, there have been 102 circumstances in December — exceeding the earlier peak of 61 circumstances in the course of the 2016-2017 winter season.
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