‘AI will revolutionize all aspects of human life on earth, including the health industry and medical care.’
PEOPLE talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a futuristic technological phenomenon. Actually, AI is here amidst us. It has been with us since it was first conceptualized by Alan Turing, the Father of Computer Science, in 1950. The first decade thereafter “saw the groundbreaking ideas and fundamental work that set the stage for future AI development.”
The early concepts and precursors of AI, the idea of artificial beings with humanlike intelligence, have been a part of mythology for centuries, like the Greek tale of Talos, a giant automaton.
It was not until the 19th century “that mathematician Charles Babbage designed the Analytical Engine, an early mechanical general-purpose computer.” Over the next 150 years since then, the concept of computing has expanded to establish the foundation for our present digital world.
The birthplace of AI as an academic discipline was the 8-week Dartmouth Conference (Workshop in Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire), organized by Mathematician-Computer scientist John McCarthy and about 20 of his computer scientists, mathematicians, cognitive psychologists, and colleagues. The goal “was to create intelligent machines that could use language, form abstractions, and solve problems that were previously only solved by humans.” Obviously, the objective was accomplished, evidenced by today’s countless initial AI applications in various fields of technological, science, and medical fields of endeavors.
AI will revolutionize all aspects of human life on earth, including the health industry and medical care. It will transform them into a more effective, efficient, pre-emptive, proactive, disease prevention and healthy lifestyle strategies, faster and better-quality drug (lesser side effects, complications, etc.) development, more rapid and more accurate, less invasive (may be bloodless) diagnostic procedures, more robotic, surgical options, leading to lesser operating time, minimal complications, and faster recovery.
People will be better guarded, protected, and served by humanoid devices out on the street or at home, as companions, bodyguards in self-driving electric cars, valets, bartender, chefs, doing dish and house cleaning, and acting as food and beverage servers, even as gardeners. No one will be left lonely, alone at home, without a partner or a spouse. These new AI companions will be totally loyal hardworking, very efficient, “new members of our family,” a great compliment to our pets (which might be AI pets also), doing all chores 24/7, no rest, no complaints, fully dedicated.
Indeed, AI will transform our world into a vastly different one in the near future. Adding more wonders to our already wonderful world!
Apnea scam devices
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is an anatomical aberration that causes a person’s back part of the roof of the mouth to be flabby and flail and the tongue to fall back to block the airway passage resulting in oxygen deficit, like in suffocation. OSA is genetic, and hereditary, where the family history is a strong risk factor. With or without snoring, untreated or improperly treated OSA is a dangerous condition that leads to a high risk for coronary heart attack, stroke, and diabetes.
Since the main effect of airway obstruction and breath-holding many times (some more than 100 times) a night, the person wakes up, sleep-deprived, unrefreshed, tired, with poor concentration, leading to poor judgment, driving, and job performance. All this is due to impaired sleep with a chronic lack of oxygen throughout the sleep cycle.
There are many gadgets advertised as a treatment for sleep apnea that do not treat the anatomical cause and are useless, a waste of money, and obviously very dangerous, providing the person a false sense of security. Gadgets like nose clips, denture guards, herbs, drugs, potions and lotions, etc. are all useless.
Inspire, the surgically implantable device, using electrodes to control the tongue from falling back, requires an operation, and is not guaranteed to work for every OSA patient. It is not only limited in effect but also more invasive and expensive. Inspire is not a good alternative to CPAP. Almost all users feel more secure using CPAP in their sleep, and wake up refreshed, with more vigor and vitality. And they won’t even sleep without CPAP, even when traveling, even when cruising.
The gold standard of care for Obstructive Sleep Apnea worldwide is CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy. This was invented by an Australian physician, Dr. Colin Sullivan, in 1980, and has been effectively helping OSA patients. There are one billion persons (some as young as 30) with sleep apnea around the world, 30 million of them in the USA and about four million in the Philippines). Many more are undiagnosed. A good and restful sleep is vital to our general health and longevity.
The public must be well-informed about these scams and fraud in the medical management of diseases, even in herbals and food supplements. Many of them are unnecessary and could even be dangerous to health. With the countless questionable products/drugs/potions/creams/devices out there, the only recipients that become healthier are the deep pockets of the unconscionable entrepreneurs. The drug and food supplement business is a 400-billion+-a-year industry.
Hopefully, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., if confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services, would address this issue seriously, among dozens of other ills and deficiencies in our nation’s healthcare system, in order to protect the ignorant, disinformed, or unsuspecting public in the USA, in the Philippines, and around the world (by ripple-effect), who have been victims of this grand international fraud for decades. It’s about time the public is protected from the scam and gets the justice they deserve.
The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people to live a healthier lifestyle, prevent illnesses and disabilities and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis, recommendation, or treatment in our article is general medical information and not intended to be applicable to or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a cardiac surgeon emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, health advocate, medical missionary, newspaper columnist, and chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He is a decorated recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995 presented by then Indiana Governor, US senator, and later presidential candidate Evan Bayh. Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry S. Truman, President George HW Bush, pugilist Muhammad Ali, David Letterman, Astronaut Gus Grissom, distinguished educators, and scientists, etc. (Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com
