Meet the Chatbots Providing Mental Healthcare

If you’re feeling stressed, sad or anxious, you could schedule an appointment with a therapist. Or you could send a text message to Sara, who provides round-the-clock support for just $5 a month.

“How much time do you give yourself to de-stress before getting ready for bed?” Sara asks me when I mention feeling tired at work.

“Half an hour on a good night,” I write back.

“What do you do to calm down or relax?”

“I watch crappy tv or read.”

“If you need more ideas, try reading a relaxing novel, meditating, or taking a soothing bath,” Sara replies. “Sound good?”

Sara, a chatbot developed by San Francisco-based startup X2AI, provides mental-health support for $5 a month.

Her responses are encouraging and empathetic—if occasionally robotic. That’s because Sara is not a person. She’s a piece of software built by X2AI, a San Francisco-based startup that has developed several of a growing number of chatbotsfocused on delivering mental healthcare. Roughly 20% of American adults experience some mental illness, but fewer than half get treatment, according to 2016 data from the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. The hope is that artificially intelligent tools capable of simple text or voice conversations can help fill the gaps—augmenting but not replacing their human counterparts.

Users can access these virtual helpers 24/7 on messaging platforms or custom apps. Some are free; others cost significantly less than traditional therapy. According to Gale Lucas, a human-computer interaction researcher at the University of Southern California, some people are more comfortable opening up to a chatbot than a person when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression. The reason: there’s no stigma or perceived judgment, she said.

As anyone who’s used a customer-service chatbot can attest, there are technical limitations to the technology. Therapy chatbots can have difficulty understanding context and parsing a user’s emotions. Take this exchange with X2AI’s Sister Hope, a free faith-based bot whoseFacebook messenger avatar is a cartoonish nun:

“I hate the weather here in San Francisco,” I type. “It’s so cold.”

“I see, tell me more about what happened,” Sister Hope responds.

“I did not bring a jacket. It’s the middle of summer…but you need a parka to stay warm here.”

“It sounds like you’re feeling pleased, do you want to talk about this?”

X2AI’s Sister Hope is a free faith-based chatbot accessible on Facebook messenger.

According to Angie Joerin, X2AI’s director of psychology, another challenge is to imbue these tools with empathy and compassion. X2AI uses transcripts of mock counselors and patients to train chatbots to field queries on suicidal thoughts, loneliness, anxiety and other issues, according to Dr. Joerin.

Wysa Ltd., a London- and Bangalore-based startup, is testing a free chatbot to teach adolescents emotional resilience, said co-founder Ramakant Vempati. In the app, a chubby penguin named Wysa helps users evaluate the sources of their stress and provides tips on how to stay positive, like thinking of a loved one or spending time outside. The company said its 400,000 users, most of whom are under 35, have had more than 20 million conversations with the bot.

Wysa is a wellness app, not a medical intervention, Vempati said, but it relies on cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness techniques and meditations that are “known to work in a self-help context.” If a user expresses thoughts of self-harm, Wysa reminds them that it’s just a bot and provides contact information for crisis hotlines. Alternatively, for $30 a month, users can access unlimited chat sessions with a human “coach.” Other therapy apps, such as Talkspace, offer similar low-cost services with licensed professionals.

Startup Wysa Ltd. is testing a free chatbot to teach adolescents emotional resilience. Here, reporter Daniela Hernandez chats with it.

Chatbots have potential, said Beth Jaworski, a mobile apps specialist at the National Center for PTSD in Menlo Park, Calif. But definitive research on whether they can help patients with more serious conditions, like major depression, still hasn’t been done, in part because the technology is so new, she said. Clinicians also worry about privacy. Mental health information is sensitive data; turning it over to companies could have unforeseen consequences. (Wysa said it doesn’t collect any identifiable information. X2AI said it minimizes the amount of data it collects.)

At USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, Dr. Lucas and her team are building voice-based chatbots to help veterans with PTSD. Ellie, a computer-generated virtual human, who appears on screen as a woman sitting in a chair, asks veterans questions about their military experience, including whether they’ve suffered sexual assault or combat trauma. Currently in clinical trials, Ellie is meant to help clinicians figure out who might benefit from talking with a human. “This is not a doc in a box. This is not intended to replace therapy,” said Dr. Lucas.

With their limited repertoire of replies and off-topic responses, therapy chatbots risk alienating users. “Depending on the [chatbot’s language] abilities there might be some missed opportunities or potential misunderstandings,” said Dr. Jaworski. These issues can be a barrier to long-term use—a particular problem for users who require ongoing mental-health treatment.

Researchers are studying how to engage people more effectively. As artificial intelligence evolves, the technical flaws should improve, thanks to better data and language comprehension models, experts say. When I told Sister Hope that I would rather not say my name, she responded: “It’s great to meet you Say.” According to CEO Michiel Rauws, X2AI’s chatbots have gotten better at deciphering names as more people have used the technology. But, he added, language recognition is still “a really hard problem.”

https://bit.ly/2M8Qrjf

Interpace Q2 Revenues Spike 41 Percent

Interpace Diagnostics said after the close of the market on Thursday that its second quarter revenues rose 41 percent year over year.

For the three months ended June 30, Interpace posted $5.5 million in revenues, up from $3.9 million in Q2 2017, and surpassing the consensus Wall Street estimate of $5.0 million.

Highlights in the recently completed quarter include coverage of the company’s ThyGenX and ThyraMIR molecular thyroid tests by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and Blue Shield of California.

Subsequent to the end of Q2, Cigna also said that it would begin covering the ThyraMIR test.

“We continued our quarter-over-quarter growth, with both strong volume growth and gains in reimbursement, especially in our thyroid franchise, and I am very pleased to report our recent success in growing our PancraGEN franchise as well, both contributing to record revenues,” Interpace President and CEO Jack Stover said in a statement. PancraGEN is a molecular test for pancreatic cysts and pancreaticobiliary solid lesions.

For Q2 2018, Interpace posted a net loss of $1.9 million, or $.07 per share, compared to a net loss of $6.3 million, or $.65 per share, in the prior year. It beat analysts’ average estimate of a loss of $.09 per share.

The firm used 28 million shares to calculate its per-share loss in Q2 2018, compared to 9.7 million shares in Q2 2017.

Its R&D costs rose 25 percent year over year to $518,000 from $413,000, while its SG&A costs were cut 12 percent to $3.8 million from $4.3 million.

Interpace exited Q2 2018 with $10.1 million in cash and cash equivalents.

During Q3, its pipeline progress will focus on building a commercial runway for its BarreGEN test to aid physicians in assessing the risk that a patient with Barrett’s Esophagus may progress to esophageal cancer. Last month, company officials said that the test is being used by a number of institutions as part of a clinical evaluation program, and Interpace is close to commercially launching the test.

The company added on Thursday it is working on a second clinical validity study to support clinical use of BarreGEN.

Other priorities in Q3 include offering and partnering its data and capabilities in bioinformatics, as well as acquiring or in-licensing products and expanding its product offering outside the US, Interpace added.

https://bit.ly/2P1FKNf

In gene pools, customers are the product

In an opinion piece at the Guardian, Adam Rutherford wonders whether people who give up their genetic data to learn their ancestry and other traits realize that they are themselves the product.

Rutherford adds that companies like 23andMe — which recently entered into a drug target discovery deal with GSK, as GenomeWeb has reported — have been open about their goals to develop genetic databases. He points out that a 23andMe board member said about five years ago that such a large database can be mined to develop new drugs that can then be sold back to consumers. Rutherford notes that 23andMe gives customers the option of not participating in third party research, but most do.

Rutherford also notes that recent uses of genealogy databases by law enforcement — such as in the Golden State Killer case — have raised privacy concerns and security issues about genetic data that has been collected.

“In short: if you really want to spend your cash to discover that you are descended from Vikings (spoiler: if you have European ancestry, you are) or you have blue eyes (try a mirror), go ahead,” he adds. “But be aware of what you are really giving up, and consider the potential risks if things go wrong.”

https://bit.ly/2B6RWta

Smaller Firms Get into Gene Editing

There are a number of smaller agricultural firms staking out claims to in the gene-editing sector, Reuters reports.

It notes that larger firms like Monsanto, Syngenta, and DowDuPont have dominated the use of earlier genetic modifications approaches, but are now facing greater competition from startups. That, Reuters notes, is due to decisions in the US to not regulate gene-edited crops. The US Department of Agriculture announced in March that it did not plan to regulate genome-edited plants or animals. This makes developing them less expensive, Reuters adds.

Companies like Calyxt, Cibus, and Benson Hill Biosystems are developing gene-editing technologies and crops, Reuters says. And it says to expect partnerships and deals between these smaller companies or academic centers and larger firms.

“The lack of USDA-regulated status is a huge game-changer,” Vancouver Island University’s Robert Wager tells Reuters, “for universities and small startups to enter the market.”

However, the Food and Drug Administration has said it would regulate gene-edited plants and animals with an “innovative and nimble” approach the agency is developing, Reuters adds.

https://bit.ly/2nwJcTr

Researchers describe new class of potent inhibitors against amyloid plaques

Effective therapeutics to counteract the formation of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes are not yet available. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now come a little bit closer to a solution: They have described a new class of designed macrocyclic peptides that are highly potent inhibitors of amyloid formation.

Amyloid plaques, which are protein deposits, play a crucial role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes. Several teams of scientists around the world are working on finding ways to prevent amyloid plaque formation in the human brain.

The research team of Aphrodite Kapurniotu, Professor for Peptide Biochemistry (TUM) has been working on an idea for some time now in collaboration with the teams of Professor Martin Zacharias (TUM), Professor Gerhard Rammes (TUM Rechts der Isar Hospital) and Professor Jürgen Bernhagen (Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD) at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU)). The researchers present now macrocyclic peptides (MCIPs) as potent inhibitors of amyloid formation; they reported their results in the journal Angewandte Chemie. The work has been supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) collaborative research center SFB 1035.

In its new study, the team presents macrocyclic peptides, developed as a new class of amyloid inhibitors. “We have discovered an MCIP that is stable in human blood plasma and can also overcome the human blood-brain barrier in an in vitro cell culture model,” explains Professor Kapurniotu. She adds: “So far we were ‘only’ able to demonstrate these properties in the test tube – thus further research is necessary. But these are two highly desirable properties for inhibitors of Alzheimer’s amyloid.”

TUM has already applied for a patent for the newly developed macrocyclic peptides. “They could be a good alternative to the currently pursued antibody-based approaches as therapeutics against Alzheimer’s amyloid plaque formation because they are easy to produce, have promising properties and, due to their peptidic nature, they will be significantly cheaper than antibodies,” says Professor Kapurniotu.

“Therefore, further investigations are now planned to verify whether the MCIPs are also effective in in vivo models. Furthermore, the MCIPs could also be suitable as templates for the development of small molecule peptidomimetics (molecules mimicking peptide chains), which might also find application as anti-amyloid drugs in Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes.

Source:

https://www.tum.de/nc/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/detail/article/34885/

https://bit.ly/2B0RFI6

Ambys Medicines and Takeda to develop new therapies for liver diseases

Ambys Medicines and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company have agreed to partner on creating new therapies for the treatment of serious liver diseases.

At present, the application of novel modalities, including cell and gene therapy, as well as gain-of-function drug therapy, are being developed by Ambys to meet the urgent need for treatments that restore liver function, thereby preventing the progression to liver failure from multiple diseases.

This is in alignment with Takedas strategy in gastroenterology to focus on the considerable unmet need in liver through major investment in novel chemistry, as well as cell and gene therapy platforms.

Ambys Medicines CEO Jeffrey Tong said: Ambys will undertake an intense and sustained effort to advance fundamental science and technology, while developing multiple programmes aimed at diverse liver disease targets.

We are uniting a broad range of scientific innovators to help lead a new era of discovery and clinical translation for people with severe liver diseases, and we are delighted to join forces with Takeda in this important effort.

Under the terms of the agreement, Takeda has committed $100m and will also participate in the Series A financing round.

In return, Takeda has the option to commercialisation rights in countries outside of the US for the first four products that reach an investigational new drug (IND) application created as part of the partnership.

If the company opts to exercise this option for a product, it will contribute 50% of the development costs for any optioned programme, while making development and regulatory milestone payments.

But irrespective of Takedas decision over commercialisation, full US rights would be retained by Ambys.

Takeda Gastroenterology Therapeutic Area Unit head Asit Parikh said: This partnership underscores the exciting potential we see to deliver on the promise of regenerative medicine for people with liver disease.

https://bit.ly/2vAmNcw

Variety may be good for your portfolio, but it isn’t good for your health

People who eat a greater variety of food eat more junk, according to a review of scientific literature published between 2000 and 2017 and released by the American Heart Association this week. The researchers found no evidence that a diverse diet promotes a healthy weight. Instead, people indulge in good and bad food, said Marcia de Oliveira Otto, lead author of the paper.

“Combined, such an eating pattern may lead to increased food consumption and obesity,” she said. It’s more effective to simply cut or reduce certain items from your diet, she said, adding that people should limit consumption of red meat, sweets and sugar. A more diverse diet typically includes less healthy items such as donuts, chips, fries and cheeseburgers, “even in moderation,” she added.

Instead of telling people to eat a variety of foods, the researchers concluded that dietary recommendations should emphasize adequate consumption of plant-based foods, such as fruit, vegetables, beans and whole grains, plus low-fat dairy products, non-tropical vegetable oils, nuts, poultry and fish. Avoid fried foods, if at all possible, they added.

When people are faced with more complex menus in restaurants, they too often overlook the healthier options. Most diners either think low-calorie food either tastes bad or won’t fill them up, a separate 2014 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research and carried out by researchers at Georgia State University in Atlanta and Columbia University, found.

“By calorie-organizing a menu, restaurants make it easier for people to use the general low-calorie label to dismiss all low-calorie options early in the decision process,” that study concluded. In fact, participants who were given traditional menus without any calorie information and menus with the low-calorie food lumped together ordered food with similar amounts of calories.

As the obesity rate is expected to hit 50% by 2030, many health gurus say the best approach is a low-sodium, low-fat diet that mostly includes fresh fruit and vegetables, and the warn that variety only serves as a temptation. Americans should consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day, the Centers for Disease Control recommends, but most people don’t.

While fewer people are drinking soda and eating red meat, and other food deemed unhealthy, they’ve become more lax in other ways, allowing themselves more salt. In fact, Americans are currently consuming around 3,400 milligrams of salt per day, the CDC said. To put this in a real-world context, a Big Mac from McDonald’s MCD, -0.39%  has 960mg of sodium.

As you age, it’s especially important not to become complacent about including too many treats in your diet, studies show. People who gained a moderate amount of weight (5 to 22 pounds) before the age of 55 increased their risk of premature death, chronic diseases and decreased the likelihood of achieving healthy aging. And the higher the weight gain, the greater risk of chronic diseases.

That’s according to a study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Our study is the first of its kind to systematically examine the association of weight gain from early to middle adulthood with major health risks later in life,” said senior author Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the school, said. The study analyzed data from nearly 93,000 participants.

Women gained an average of 22 pounds over this time, while men gained 19 pounds. “The findings indicate that even a modest amount of weight gain may have important health consequences,” he said. Worse, early and middle adulthood is the time of life most people actually gain weight, as their metabolism slows, recurring knee and back injuries become more common.

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