Ground-Breaking Study Will Use AI to Explore Links Between Chronic Inflammation, Diet, and Long-Term Health Conditions

A pioneering £4.8million, eight-year project will harness artificial intelligence (AI) to investigate the link between nutrition, health inequality and the development of multiple long-term conditions.

More than a quarter of the UK’s adult population live with two or more long term health conditions. The new study, led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) working with the University of Exeter and others, is investigating inflammation, which is a key biological driver that underlies many chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, arthritis and high blood pressure. Inflammation could also explain how diet and nutrition are linked to these conditions and why they are more common in certain social and ethnic groups.

By applying cutting-edge analytical methods to large scale national and international datasets, the project will identity new ways to slow the progression of multiple long-term health problems in people most at risk.

Lead researcher Prof Alex Macgregor, of UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “About one in four of the UK population have multiple long terms conditions.

“It is one of the greatest challenges facing individuals and health services, both now and for the coming decades and is associated with a reduction in quality of life, increases in use of health services and reduced life expectancy.

“Prevention of onset and progression of multiple long-term conditions is a priority area of major strategic importance for the Department of Health.

“We have a multi-disciplinary team of scientists with expertise in clinical research, nutrition and data science who will use advanced computing to examine the reasons why some people are prone to developing multiple long-term conditions.”

Professor Chris Fox, Co-investigator and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of Exeter, said: “Our findings will help create strategies and policies to prevent multiple long-term health problems in the people most at risk.” 

“As part of the programme we will also test how well these new strategies and policies work in helping these vulnerable communities.”

Health Minister Karin Smyth said: “Long-term health conditions are one of the many challenges facing our NHS and I am determined we harness artificial intelligence to tackle them. 

“This ground-breaking research will help identify patients most at risk as well as the most appropriate treatments, ensuring they receive the highest quality care. 

“We can only fix our broken NHS by building a healthy society, helping people live well for longer.”

‘Inflammation, nutrition, and the evolution of multiple long-term conditions – an AI-based analysis of intersectionality in longitudinal health data (the InflAIM programme)’ will run for eight years.

It is funded through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Programme Grants for Applied Research stream. 

The study is a national collaboration between epidemiologists, computer scientists, statisticians, nutritionists, clinicians, social scientists, and policymakers, with collaboration from a wide range of institutions including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Brunel University London, Queen Mary University of London and the Universities of Southampton, Chester, Hertfordshire and Durham.

For more information about the project visit https://www.inflaim.com/