Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has come a long way in the last few years. This isn’t the AI that we’ve seen in Science Fiction movies, but rather a type of computer learning that can recognize patterns and send out alerts when they are found. As you might imagine, computers have an ability to recognize tiny trends that the human eye might not be able to pick up on, resulting in more accurate detection of these patterns. And when this is applied to health care, the end result is that more accurate diagnoses can be made. This can help treatment begin earlier, helping it to improve the chances of helping the person with their specific health issue.
When this is applied to stroke prevention, it has the potential to save a lot of lives. This is exactly what researchers from the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University are working on.
The AI, referred to as deep learning, is able to detect blocked arteries that supply blood to the brain. By detecting these blockages before a stroke occurs, the odds of someone suffering an ischemic can be lowered because of preventative care and treatment. This can also help determine if a stroke has occurred more quickly than other methods, allowing doctors to treat the stroke right away. Traditionally, the wisdom has been that if a stroke is treated within two hours of it occurring, the odds of a full recovery go up dramatically. With this new method, treatment can begin within minutes, keeping those that have had a stroke well within that two hour window.
A stroke can completely change someone’s life. They might go from a seemingly healthy individual to someone who is completely dependent on another person just to get through each day. These effects can be short term or they can be permanent. Strokes can even be fatal. Prevention is the best way to keep you and your family safe from a stroke, but oftentimes the warning signals are completely hidden. That’s the beauty of this new technology. It has the potential to help someone detect that they are at high risk of a stroke before it happens and make the necessary changes to better their chances of staying healthy.
Simple changes now have the potential to help you live a healthier life as you age. No one wants to need senior care, and taking positive steps to improve your health before it’s too late is the best way to avoid this need.
But if you or a loved one do need care, we’re here to help. One of our caregivers can sit down with you or another loved one and help go over your options and decide which of these options is going to be the most helpful for you. This is a free service that we provide and it’s designed to give you the support you need as you begin this tough process. Again, no one wants to need care, but there is high quality senior care out there if you need it. Just give us a call to start.
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