This post will probably make some people cringe, but I think it shows the opportunities of new technology that we will all be benefiting from soon.  

I went to my double doctor appointments (GP + Cardiologist) over the last 2 days for check ups. Everything was good and I liked the new doctors. Afterwards, I took the added step to “discussed” my lab numbers and medical history with ChatGPT. I wanted to compare the doctors’ perspective with what artificial intelligence could suggest.

Headline: I really felt like the AI was consistent with the doctors’ point-of-view and gave me a lot more detail on their analysis and recommendations. It was extra helpful.  

Since both doctors were new to me, I gave them a 1-pager with a little about who I was, my lifestyle, and known medical issues – most significantly the heart attack I had back in 2019.  They also had all of my vitals, blood tests, and medications since I started going to this clinic when I retired 10+ years ago.  

I then gave ChatGPT (in a confidential “health project”) the same detail – including a table of all of my weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, A1C, and PSA numbers – over the same period.  

I was amazed that artificial intelligence was able to quickly analyze the data – ask me follow up questions about exercise, diet, nutrition, medications, and other health habits – and quickly give me specific prioritized follow-ups that matched the doctors.  It even suggested a few specific medications to discuss with my cardiologist for lowering my LDL cholesterol that the doctor had just suggested to me the day before. Importantly, it was able to describe them in more detail than the doctor had time for – or questions I hadn’t thought about at the moment I was with him.

I’ve used AI to analyze health data before, but I was really impressed when it could create multiple lists of what I was doing well, what it was concerned about, and what changes I could make. It could attack the problems from so many different ways. Each was customized to my exact numbers and situation.  It pointed out things that I do very well / not as well with contextual benchmarks that helped frame things for a 60 year-old that has already had a heart attack.  

It even had the “sensitivity” to understand that changes had to be made practically and that you cannot “medicalize” someone’s life and expect the changes to be sustainable.  It said “one thing that we know from long-term health studies is that the best plan is the one you can happily follow for the next 20 years”.  In discussing diet & my penchant for eating oyt it understood “that studies show that social connections are associated with better health and longevity, and that eating out with friends & family benefits us that way, too”.

I was really impressed with both of my new doctors this week, but discussing the same issues (and data) with ChatGPT was even more impressive, and strangely inspiring.  Importantly, I would never forgo a doctor visit or advice with AI at this point, but I found the combination of the two really consistent … and powerful.

Have you ever analyzed your health data or “discussed” your health conditions with AI?  Would you try it?

Image: ChatGPT (not real health data)