“The average person’s understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) is limited to the general idea that machines can think and learn.”
At least that’s the answer that Gemini, Google’s generative large language model (essentially its own version of ChatGPT), gave to my inquiry.
This is obviously a gross oversimplification. It’s no wonder, though, considering the onslaught of news about AI’s potential impact on every facet of life, that teasing out the technologies that fall under the umbrella of “AI” can feel impossible.
Healthcare is no exception; AI has been proposed as a means to tackle problems as varied as predicting patients’ long-term risk for certain diseases and developing and optimizing brand new medications.
This time last year I wrote a piece for about Dr. Alexander Fleming, a microbiologist who, one fateful September morning in 1928, made arguably the most important breakthrough to date in the care of patients with sepsis.
Sepsis is the body’s dysfunctional reaction to a foreign invader, be that a staph infection, the flu, or COVID. What starts as the immune system’s attempt to fight the infection spirals out of control and leads to severe organ dysfunction and death.
Dr. Fleming, through a happy accident, discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic — the single most critical element in the treatment of patients with sepsis.
I asked Gemini for other major breakthroughs in the treatment of this deadly and poorly understood disease. It came up with an impressive timeline of advances like validated severity scores and diagnostic blood markers, new antibiotics and medications to calm the body’s pathologic immune response, and burgeoning awareness of the importance of nutrition and mobility.
Despite this progress, over 1.7 million adults in the US will experience sepsis this year, and more than 350,000 of those will die. Early recognition is vital; every hour of delay in treatment increases mortality.
Leaders in the care of patients with sepsis at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital are exploring how integrating AI into our workflow might help identify patients with sepsis more rapidly and reliably.
While this is our goal, developing a model that recognizes the complex and varied harbingers of sepsis before clinicians do is a complicated task.
As of right now, available AI tools for early recognition of sepsis are immature and do not consistently outperform our current systems. The potential for growth in this space, though, is incredible.
If technology continues to expand at its current pace, though, it may be only a matter of time before we can count AI as another weapon in our arsenal. Could it be we are in the midst of the next major breakthrough in sepsis care?
Increasingly sophisticated AI technology or not, the most important factor in early treatment of sepsis is you. The earlier you or your loved one seek help the earlier life-saving treatments can start.
Unfortunately, the symptoms can be as vague and difficult to recognize as being weak, confused, or just “not quite right.” This is especially true in children, older adults, or those with weakened immune systems, in whom sepsis is particularly dangerous.
The best thing you can do about sepsis is to learn more about it. Take measures to protect yourself and your family. Wash your hands, clean common surface areas, and get vaccinated against infections like influenza and COVID.
Recognize the symptoms: fevers, weakness, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, chills, fatigue, or confusion, especially in someone with recent signs of infection.
Most importantly, seek medical attention early – don’t wait until these symptoms become severe to get help.
September is Sepsis Awareness Month. Take this opportunity to talk to your loved ones about sepsis and arm yourself with the tools to join the fight against it. If you are a sepsis survivor, we encourage you to share your story with others. Know that you are not alone.
Click on https://www.cottagehealth.org/about/newsroom/2022/sepsis-disease/ for more about sepsis from Cottage Health.
You can also learn more about Sepsis Awareness Month from the Sepsis Alliance, https://www.sepsis.org/get-involved/sepsis-awareness-month/.