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In healthcare, timing is paramount. Timing can be the difference between a terminal illness and one that is treatable or manageable. It can be the difference between life and death. In our world where AI has become the norm, AI can be used to detect diseases way early, even before signs and symptoms start to show up.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmR1Gti42jMw6o2vCaULLcYEAduZiuxce4nhQPJgRNLEsa/ai_generated_9106907_1280.jpg)
[Source](https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-medical-technology-9106907/)


## Why early detection is important

When it comes to healthcare, early detection of diseases cannot be overemphasized. It literally saves people’s lives. Across a variety of conditions like cancer, cardiovascular conditions, neurodegenerative conditions like alzheimers and more, early detection has proven to be very crucial in getting better prognosis, recovery, quality of life, reduced duration and cost of treatment. The usual method of diagnosing based on symptoms or just relying solely on human diagnosis all cause a delay. Hence, AI comes in to equip health professionals to catch these diseases very early and begin swift intervention, not necessarily to replace them.

## How AI does its thing
AI learns from a huge amount of data faster. Something that humans can’t do. So it analyzes so much data, learns from it and then tries to figure out patterns that would help it spot risks for diseases or indications that a disease is about to occur. Some of the things AI could learn from in this context are Radiographs, lab test results, health records, genetic information and even wearable technological devices. So with what it learns from these data, AI can identify anomalies long before they manifest symptoms or become identifiable by human eyes.

### Let’s talk about actual uses cases of AI in early detection of diseases

***Detecting cancer***
There have been cases where AI has been able to accurately detect breast cancer from mammograms way early. In other imaging like that of the lungs, AI can spot malignancies that even radiologist might not see.

***Detecting Cardiovascular conditions***
AI trained in reading and interpreting ECGs can be able to detect abnormalities that are indicative of a heart diseases even when the individual hasn’t started experiencing any symptom.

***Detecting Neurological disorders***
There have been AI models trained to predict the occurrence of neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s years before it happens just by interpreting brain scans and information from several cognitive exams.

***Detecting Retinopathy associated with Diabetes***
Retinopathy associated with diabetes can be spotted long before issues with vision surface in a diabetes patient by AI specially trained to scan the retina.

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In conclusion, we are entering a time when AI can figure out something wrong with us health wise long before we even get any symptom. A lot of people and companies are working to make this a mainstay in healthcare. It is something to be excited about because it would make healthcare delivery more proactive rather than reactive.

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