Definitely an interesting article! Using AI for medical questions is risky, especially since many people use it instead of a doctor. This time worked out well since they were actually smart about...
Definitely an interesting article! Using AI for medical questions is risky, especially since many people use it instead of a doctor. This time worked out well since they were actually smart about how they used it to resolve questions, and also fact-checked with actual doctors.
That said: there are so many things that can go wrong with our bodies that it's natural for human doctors to miss signs. Our memories are only so good after all, and as we refine our knowledge in any field, we can develop tunnel vision. I've heard of multiple cases of diagnoses because medical students or recent graduates recognizing symptoms of diseases which more experienced doctors subconsciously dismissed due to factors like age. (Actually, I think that exact scenario happened with my dad's heart attack at 17. Because a 17-year-old high school star athlete is NOT the expected demographic for heart attacks.)
To that end, if used correctly (and with training on the proper knowledge base), AI can be useful for overcoming that. AI won't have the natural subconscious biases people develop over time, and it can also "recall" a lot more information and potential causes. At the very least, it can be very helpful for doctors to find new directions to investigate.
Or, as in this case, it may suggest some simple test everyone overlooked that can solve everything.
Also, just putting this in spoilers because I have to comment on it:
Yeah, I think the author has a point about "fibroids" being a way to make tumors sound less scary. I've heard of fibroids in passing for years, but never actually knew what they were until now.
Which is a type of tumor. She had a tumor. A whole tumor. Non-cancerous, but still a tumor. Undetected for six years.
Yep, "tumor" definitely sounds a lot more serious than "fibroid". And obviously it is, because it taking up space was apparently the sole thing blocking her from getting pregnant. It may not have been life-or-death, but their lives would have been VERY different if they'd done an MRI and found the fibroid earlier.
If you are unsuccessful for long enough on your pregnancy journey, and none of the many doctors you see can identify a problem, you get branded with a label. You now have “unexplained infertility.” This is good because there’s still hope of fixing the problem but dreaded because once you’ve reached this point the system is less interested in you. The fertility doctors don’t become unkind, but they also don’t give you the sense they are poring over medical journals trying to figure out your problem. They have looked for the keys under the streetlight and come up empty. Once you have unexplained infertility, the doctors start saying things like, “Have you considered using a surrogate?” and, “Sure, the last 5 embryo transfers failed, but what if we try a 6th and cross our fingers really hard?”
My wife and I could make healthy embryos, but none of the transfers were sticking. It was so frustrating to be able to create life only to have it trapped forever in a cooler at a hospital in Milwaukee, our babies like so many forgotten Miller Lights.
Definitely an interesting article! Using AI for medical questions is risky, especially since many people use it instead of a doctor. This time worked out well since they were actually smart about how they used it to resolve questions, and also fact-checked with actual doctors.
That said: there are so many things that can go wrong with our bodies that it's natural for human doctors to miss signs. Our memories are only so good after all, and as we refine our knowledge in any field, we can develop tunnel vision. I've heard of multiple cases of diagnoses because medical students or recent graduates recognizing symptoms of diseases which more experienced doctors subconsciously dismissed due to factors like age. (Actually, I think that exact scenario happened with my dad's heart attack at 17. Because a 17-year-old high school star athlete is NOT the expected demographic for heart attacks.)
To that end, if used correctly (and with training on the proper knowledge base), AI can be useful for overcoming that. AI won't have the natural subconscious biases people develop over time, and it can also "recall" a lot more information and potential causes. At the very least, it can be very helpful for doctors to find new directions to investigate.
Or, as in this case, it may suggest some simple test everyone overlooked that can solve everything.
Also, just putting this in spoilers because I have to comment on it:
Yeah, I think the author has a point about "fibroids" being a way to make tumors sound less scary. I've heard of fibroids in passing for years, but never actually knew what they were until now.
Which is a type of tumor. She had a tumor. A whole tumor. Non-cancerous, but still a tumor. Undetected for six years.
Yep, "tumor" definitely sounds a lot more serious than "fibroid". And obviously it is, because it taking up space was apparently the sole thing blocking her from getting pregnant. It may not have been life-or-death, but their lives would have been VERY different if they'd done an MRI and found the fibroid earlier.
Actually, maybe we should just have MRIs as part of standard reproductive-related health exams...? Because there's a lot of potential physical issues like fibroids that wouldn't necessarily have other symptoms, so could only be discovered via directly checking. Apparently MRIs and ultrasounds can also potentially be used to diagnose endometriosis, or at least the possibility of it or other issues.
Women's health is just critically under-researched and minimalized.
From the article: