But it is also making the data freely available to other researchers, who could develop diagnostic tests that allow early preventative treatment to stop diseases in their tracks.<\/p>\n
Slave Petrovski, who led the research, told Sky News: \u201cFor many of these diseases, by the time they manifest clinically and the individual goes to the doctor because of an ailment or visible observation that is far down the line from when the disease process began.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThere may have been a whole cascade of events that happened in the blood before it was symptomatic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can pick up signatures in an individual that are highly predictive of developing diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kidney disease and many others.\u201d<\/p>\n
AstraZeneca used data from 500,000 people who are part of the UK Biobank, a vast repository of health information.<\/p>\n
MILTON analysed data from 67 routine clinical biomarkers, including detailed results from blood and urine tests, checks on blood pressure and respiratory performance, as well as weight, age and sex.<\/p>\n
It also looked at data from 50,000 Biobank volunteers on 3,000 proteins found in blood plasma that play a critical part in many body functions, including the immune and hormonal systems.<\/p>\n
\u2018Exceptional\u2019 performance for 121 diseases<\/strong><\/p>\nThe AI tool was able to detect subtle patterns in the data that would have been invisible to the human eye, and link them to diseases the patients were diagnosed with up to a decade or more later.<\/p>\n
Its predictive performance was rated as \u201cexceptional\u201d for 121 diseases, and \u201chighly predictive\u201d for another 1,091, according to the study published in the journal Nature Genetics.<\/p>\n
Although routine biomarkers collected by GPs were predictive, adding the analysis of 3,000 proteins \u2013 which shouldn\u2019t add significantly to the cost of blood tests \u2013 significantly increased the power of MILTON to flag patients at risk.<\/p>\n
Dr Petrovski said the finding opens up the possibility of intervening much earlier in the disease process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is always the opportunity to combine lifestyle with (pharmaceutical) interventions to get the optimum benefits of health,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften when we look at diseases it is in the later stages, so they are difficult to reverse.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal would be to intervene earlier and to manage disease to make sure it does not progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
AstraZeneca stresses that MILTON is currently a research tool and more work needs to be done before it can be used clinically by doctors.<\/p>\n
\u2018Impact will be on improving our knowledge of diseases\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\nProfessor Tim Frayling, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Exeter, was also cautious.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe need to take care when claiming we can \u2018predict disease\u2019 when we really mean \u2018we can give you a slightly better idea of your chances of developing a disease but there are still many unknown factors\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis approach will likely have more impact on improving our knowledge of how diseases develop rather than who exactly will develop them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Expert has \u2018concerns over tool\u2019s ethical use\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\nProf Dusko Ilic, of Stem Cell Sciences, King\u2019s College London (KCL), said MILTON\u2019s predictive power was \u201cremarkable\u201d, opening up the possibility of earlier intervention, more personalised treatments, and lower healthcare costs.<\/p>\n
But he warned: \u201cI have some concerns regarding its ethical use.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe powerful predictive abilities of this tool could, if unregulated, be misused by health insurance companies or employers to assess individuals without their knowledge or consent. This could lead to discrimination and a breach of privacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrict guidelines and oversight will be critical in ensuring that the benefits of MILTON are realised in an ethical and responsible manner.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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