We don't have an unlimited supply of diagnostic tests for COVID. So, researchers have developed nine simple questions that can predict whether someone is likely to have the disease.
medical diagnostics
"Test here. Test now. Test, baby, test!" has become the conventional wisdom for handling the COVID-19 pandemic. But false positives and false negatives create substantial problems for mass testing.
Amazing, recent progress in prostate cancer research has encouraged many experts (including this writer) to expect that this type of cancer will be cured -- or at least adequately controlled -- within their lifetimes. "I’m glad I had this cancer," states Dr. Paul Lange, "for it made me a more empathetic physician."
Identifying the cause of an infectious disease is time-consuming and not always easy. So a company called Karius has developed a blood test that analyzes cell-free DNA to identify more than a thousand pathogens.
Does prediabetes lead inevitably to diabetes? Not for most people. It may be a better reflection of an intersection than a foregone path.
Telemedicine is a first step towards digitizing the world of medicine, while improving and increasing access to care and reducing out-of-pocket costs.
In the short term, it seems that social media could be helpful in creating supportive networks for people with poor mental health. But in the long term, it depends on how we start to challenge societal perceptions of the issue. If nothing changes, then at least be prepared for challenges ahead.
Researchers have found a way to model the thinking of experts, which could allow machines to explain their "thinking." That would be a great step forward in the deep learning of medical diagnosis by computers.