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In February 2024, Lauren Bannon noticed she couldn’t bend her little fingers properly. After months of testing, doctors diagnosed her with arthritis.
Scans showed two lumps in her thyroid. (Photo Credits: X)
Lauren Bannon, from Newry, Northern Ireland, was shocked when ChatGPT helped expose a life threatening health issue. In February 2024, Lauren noticed she couldn’t bend her little fingers properly, which left her worried. After months of testing, doctors initially diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis, even though the test results were negative. Desperate for answers, she shared her symptoms on ChatGPT and the AI service suggested she might have Hashimoto’s disease. Although her doctors weren’t sure, Lauren was determined to get tested and in September 2024, AI’s suggestion was correct. Further scans showed two lumps in her thyroid, which were confirmed as cancer in October.
Speaking with Mirror, she said, “I felt let down by doctors. It was almost like they were just trying to give out medication for anything to get you in and out the door. I needed to find out what was happening to me, I just felt so desperate. I just wasn’t getting the answers I needed. So that’s when I pulled up ChatGPT. I already used it for work. I started typing what mimics rheumatoid arthritis and it popped up saying ‘You may have Hashimoto’s disease, ask your doctor to check your thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO) levels.’ So I went to my doctors and she told me ‘I couldn’t have that, there was no family history of it’ but I said “just amuse me’.”
In January 2025, Lauren Bannon had surgery to remove her thyroid and two lymph nodes from her neck. She now has to be checked regularly for the rest of her life to make sure the cancer doesn’t come back. She believes that because her symptoms were not the usual signs of Hashimoto’s disease, doctors might not have found the real problem in time. She didn’t feel tired or weak like others go through. If ChatGPT wasn’t there for her help, she would have kept taking medicine for an illness she didn’t actually have.
“The doctor said I was very lucky to have caught it so early. I know for sure that cancer would’ve spread without using ChatGPT. It saved my life. I just knew that something was wrong with me. I would’ve never discovered this without ChapGPT. All my tests were perfect. I would encourage others to use Chat GPT with their health concerns, act with caution but if it gives you something to look into, ask your doctors to test you. It can’t do any harm. I feel lucky to be alive,” Lauren added.
Speaking with Fox News, Dr Harvey Castro, an emergency doctor and AI expert from Dallas, said that tools like ChatGPT can be helpful because they make people more aware of their health. He believes AI can support doctors by giving helpful suggestions and information, but it should never replace real medical professionals, as it cannot check a patient, make a final diagnosis or give proper treatment. He feels that if AI is used the right way, it can improve healthcare, but completely relying on it can be risky.
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