A Real Use Case - Beyond the Prescription Pad: How AI-Driven Preventative Health Transforms Dermatological Recommendations for Safer Patient Outcomes

Artificial intelligence is reshaping many areas of healthcare, and dermatology is no exception. Traditionally, dermatologists and aesthetics clinicians have relied on visual examinations and patient history to diagnose and treat skin conditions. Naturally, patients trust their dermatologists and clinicians to understand their conditions and provide solutions.

Now, with Enbodie.me, AI-driven preventative health analysis offers a balanced approach that goes beyond the prescription pad. This technology platform helps clinicians and patients better understand skin health risks, tailor treatments, and promote patient safety through more informed personalised recommendations and education.

AI tools analyse vast amounts of data, including ethnicity data, genetic information, environmental factors, and toxicology reports, to predict potential skin issues before they become severe. This shift from reactive to proactive care is transforming how dermatology professionals and consumers approach skin health, especially for conditions like rosacea and other chronic skin concerns. At the same time, while looking into the skin condition is critical to resolving the problem, there are potential hidden issues beyond this process, such as products that may be recommended—unknowingly doing harm to the patients.

You might wonder how this works. Dermatologists and aesthetic clinicians believe they are recommending products that will resolve the issues at hand. These recommendations align with their methodology on how to help, and they often do. However, there is a hidden risk. This is something that blindsides them in several ways and isn't a great outcome for the patient.

A dermatologist discussing recommended products with a patient

A Real Use Case

As the CEO of Enbodie, I come across countless stories in mainstream media. I subscribe to thousands of sources, spending many hours each week researching key topics. Some of these stories are applicable to what we are doing at Enbodie, while others might affect us in the future—like Quantum Computing, for example.

The prior weekend was no different. I stumbled across a recent Sunday Times feature syndicated to Apple News, where a journalist recounted her journey through a dermatology clinic with hope and, sometimes, frustration—a very balanced perspective.

The article starts innocuously: a patient seeks answers for sensitive, inflamed skin, specifically rosacea. A top London-based dermatologist asks all the right questions, demonstrates expertise in flushing, triggers, and medical background, and prescribes an evidence-based routine.

A female with mild Rosacea reviewing it in the mirror.

So far, so good, right? No...

I want to start by saying that under no circumstances am I looking to vilify any individual, their approach, or their processes. I am merely providing some very important observations about how the platform we have developed at Enbodie would help in this situation—improving things for both the patient and the clinician. And that is what counts, right?

What struck me most about this article, reading it as both a data expert and entrepreneur, is the clinical assumption.

And the critical question here is: how do dermatologists and aesthetic clinicians truly know the full impact of the products they recommend?

Do they look into the ingredients and check if the product they recommend is indeed okay for an individual to use? Do they ever ask, "What are your values or beliefs?"—to see if a product contains bovine when the person using it is vegan or of a religion where specific animals don't align with those values?

And do they ever consider the compounded effect of dozens—sometimes hundreds—of ingredients across multiple products, as these enter the body each day? Sometimes applied multiple times daily, especially if the individual is exercising regularly and showering—reapplying.

Are they aware of the Margin of Safety Protocol (MOS)? The margin of safety protocol is a regulatory concept designed to protect people by ensuring there’s a wide ‘buffer’ between the level of exposure to a substance and the level considered harmful or risky. Regulators require companies to prove that their products—be they foods, drugs, or chemicals—don’t come close to safety limits, often by calculating a ratio (called the Margin of Safety or Margin of Exposure) between expected human exposure and the dose that causes harm in studies.

This margin is carefully defined to account for uncertainties, like differences between animal tests and humans, individual vulnerabilities, and errors in testing. Regulators use these margins to guide legal standards, making sure products are well below the line where harm could occur—helping keep consumers safe even if real-life conditions aren’t perfect.

Clinicians, following guideline-based care, undoubtedly mean well. They account for allergies, visible sensitivities, and even a patient’s lifestyle and past medical history. But nearly all miss a critical risk: overexposure to specific ingredients, not from one product, but from the “cocktail effect” of a daily routine.

This is not a criticism of individual practitioners; it is a systemic flaw—one driven by time-pressured clinics, lack of ingredient transparency, and an absence of truly preventative, holistic technology. They are duped by big brands; in some cases, there are incentives in place for certain products. This is why, fundamentally as a company and business, Enbodie will not be doing this. We will always be independent with no ties to products or companies. Not being influenced is critical in our approach—we are the Switzerland of Products and Patient Safety Data. In terms of products, we will be introducing an Enbodie Index with a certification approach, ensuring that product manufacturers meet our values and high standards and achieve this certification, with ratings so they can progress.

Personally, I don't believe that people we trust should be recommending what we consume without checking if they are safe for us personally. That's like someone recommending alcohol when I've just come out of an AA meeting. Another challenge is that we are all so unique, so we also need some level of confidence that the products clinicians expect people to consume into their bodies won't do harm to the individual long term. They should have knowledge of this somehow. They should also understand and have a responsibility not only to the individual person but also to the planet. Caring holistically is important. Values like no animal testing are equally important as well.

How AI Enhances Preventative Dermatology

Curiosity and concern inspired me to put our own platform—Enbodie.me to work, using the real-life scenario described in that news article. The patient, like millions, followed a “safe” dermatologist-recommended routine: retinol, SPF, moisturiser, and cleansers. All brands are reputable, and all products comply with European and UK ingredient regulations.

Yet, once Enbodie ran the numbers, the hidden risks leapt off the screen (and I've limited it to these three areas; there was more):

• Duplication and Overlap: Several products contained the same potential irritant or preservative (e.g. phenoxyethanol)—amplifying exposure far beyond what any one label would ever warn. The result? Daily absorption approaching or even exceeding recommended margins of safety.

  
  

• Ingredient Overload: More than 130 ingredients applied in a day! Repeated potentially multiple days, for weeks—like taking antibiotics. Some are flagged for hormone disruption, others for allergy or environmental harm, a number derived from animal sources, and several persistent in the environment.

  
  

• Reactive, Not Preventative Care: Even the best clinics operate reactively. They treat the latest symptom but rarely look for invisible risks—such as how hard water reduces cleanser efficacy or aggravates known triggers at home, or how certain chemical combinations become dangerous in sensitive or ageing patients.

  
  

As a company grounded in patient safety and science, we built Enbodie to bridge exactly this gap. Our AI reviews millions of product formulas, links every ingredient to current evidence on health, environment, and ethics, and cross-checks with a user’s history, values, and context. The findings, in this and countless other cases, are sobering: most “safe” routines could be safer, simpler, and more effective—with far fewer risks.

Join us on this journey; our beta will be out soon. www.enbodie.me/waitlist