1 minute read
New developments
from Connect Magazine
Professor Sebastian Shaji, Consultant
Gastroenterologist from the IBD Unit at Hull University, looks to the future
Artificial Intelligence
(AI)
AI will really impact on every aspect of IBD care.
People may think of AI as very challenging or even a threat in some cases, but for me I see it as a huge opportunity to make our lives easier and as something which may aid us in improving care for our patients.
For example, using Natural Language Processing to make better sense of data and simplify its interpretation and presentation, or using AI to give you real-time feedback in relation to your interpretation of an image in a colonoscopy.
I think AI will be a massively helpful tool in gastroenterology, and specifically in IBD.
A Deeper Understanding Of The Cause
I think this is one of the most important areas of research. We need to better understand the triggers of the conditions. We know that genes play an important role, but they are probably more a component part of the trigger.
Thanks to a better understanding of the changing epidemiology of Crohn’s and Colitis, it seems clear that the answer is in the environment.
These conditions used to be considered to mostly affect the Caucasian population, but now, the biggest increase in incidence is in Asia and South America.
That suggests that clearly environmental factors play a role. We need to understand what those factors are, and how early in life are those environmental factors relevant. There are great quality studies going on looking at mothers, infants, and the microbiome in early life.
I think it’ll take a global effort to really bring all the research together and further our understanding of the cause.
New Medications
It’s an exciting time. There are already a handful of new individual molecules that have been approved in the last 12 months or are in late stage studies and there are more on the horizon.
The first study of combination biologic agents has just been published and there are at least four other trials combining existing medicines and those are due to be launched this year. The hope is that we’ll be able to go beyond our current therapeutic limitations and help more people achieve what we’d class as remission.
That’s the hope, but this has to be balanced against risks of medications. That is why this is something that must be properly tested.
