{"id":6573,"date":"2017-01-13T04:09:34","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T04:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=6573"},"modified":"2017-05-04T09:36:05","modified_gmt":"2017-05-04T09:36:05","slug":"wearables-can-tell-when-youre-getting-sick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=6573","title":{"rendered":"Wearables Can Tell When You\u2019re Getting Sick"},"content":{"rendered":"

They\u2019re popular, but wearable<\/a> devices that track exercise or sleep are <\/span>not <\/span>always <\/span>the most accurate predictors of health. Still, <\/span>researchers see them as promising tools, and in a new <\/span>study <\/span>from Stanford University School of Medicine, they found that <\/span>wearables <\/span>can potentially let us know when we\u2019re getting sick.<\/p>\n

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By equipping 60 people with several activity monitors\u2014most people got a Basis smartwatch\u2014the researchers collected close to 2 billion measurements, including heart rate, sleep, fitness, weight, skin temperature and blood oxygen levels. Using this information, they showed it is possible to identify abnormal changes in a person\u2019s typical vital signs, which could signal a change in their health. <\/span>The findings were published in the journal <\/span>PLOS Biology<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Study author Michael Snyder, professor and chair of genetics at Stanford, learned that he was getting sick from the feedback he was getting from his own wearable<\/a> devices. When he was flying to Norway for vacation, Snyder\u2014who was wearing seven biosensors\u2014noticed abnormal changes in his heart rate and blood oxygen levels. When his levels didn\u2019t return to normal, he thought something might be wrong. He soon came down with a fever and was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctor I visited in Norway was certainly surprised I was following myself that closely,\u201d says Snyder. \u201cI see a world where everyone is wearing these and your smartphone is like your car dashboard: lights go off when things are not quite right, like elevated heart rate or skin temperature.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers also found that when people had higher heart rates and skin temperatures, they also tended to have higher levels of C-reactive protein in their blood, a marker for inflammation. This can sometimes indicate the presence of disease. If wearable<\/a> could determine baseline levels for certain health markers, algorithms could be designed to pick up on changes from that baseline\u2014all information that could help reach a diagnosis, the study suggests.<\/p>\n

With a few other measurements, algorithms may also be able to predict whether a person is likely to be insulin resistant, which is a precursor for diabetes, the researchers show.<\/p>\n

Wearables don\u2019t alert people to meaningful changes in their health yet, but they may in the future. \u201cI see this information getting relayed straight to your doctor\u2019s office,\u201d says Snyder. \u201cRight now, a physician sees you for 15 minutes and takes these measurements in less than a minute\u2014usually when you are anxious, so they are <\/span>not very accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n