Learning or Data Collection is step one in the Learn-Think-Do (LTD) framework for the eradication of dementia and mental illness.
Data Sources
There are two primary types of data sources that can be used to derive the Outcome Labels:
1. Individual Micro-Level Data
This includes
– data manually entered in digital health apps
– data automatically collected by wearable devices
– shopping receipts for foods, drugs, or nutritional supplements
– insurance claim data
– formal health records
Currently data can be imported from other devices or apps at app.crowdsourcingcures.org.
2. Macro-Level Epidemiological Data
This includes the incidence of various diseases over time combined with data on the amounts of different drugs or food additives. This is how it was initially discovered that smoking caused lung cancer. With macro-level data, it’s even harder to distinguish correlation from causation. However, different countries often enact different policies that can serve as very useful natural experiments. For instance, 30 countries have banned the use of glyphosate. If the rates of Alzheimer’s, autism, and depression declined in these countries and did not decline in the countries still using glyphosate, this would provide very powerful evidence regarding its effects. Unfortunately, there is no global database that currently provides easy access to the incidence of these conditions in various countries over time and the levels of exposure to various chemicals.
3. Clinical Trial Data