From gut health to heart health and blood glucose tracking, home health monitors can provide insight into many bodily functions without needles, appointments, and invasive procedures. All you need is a smartphone, smartwatch, and one or two personal health monitoring devices that sync data with these healthcare gadgets.
Wearable fitness technology has weaved itself into society so that smartwatches are seen as mainstream; and the future of wearable devices shows no sign of slowing down. Some of the simplest and most original forms of wearable technology, wearable fitness trackers, are wristbands equipped with sensors to keep track of the user’s physical activity and heart rate mostly for chronic patients. Some brands have evolved and now have ECG monitors, which let you check for atrial fibrillation, and pulse oximeters, a useful feature during a coronavirus infection, when low blood oxygen can be a useful signal. Others can track your skin’s exposure to the sun too.
But does this constant monitoring of our vital signs truly yield better health? There’s no clear answer yet. A review in the American Journal of Medicine found “little indication that wearable devices provide a benefit for health outcomes.” Another issue is that the measuring abilities of wearables are imperfect for some metrics.
With a smart watch on, sometimes you would wake up in the morning and check an app to see how you slept — instead of just taking a moment to notice whether you actually felt tired or not. Sometimes you may get feeling that you started carrying around an expensive psychological pyramid scheme- the more you watch your numbers the more stressed you become. So, don’t believe that the ‘the future of your health is tied on the wrist’ and give your body time to understand the inner patterns.
Of course, these watches can be useful: for health data and avoiding early diseases, reminding you to move more or maybe even that emergency call if you wind up falling in the woods. Many of us make better choices when we know we’re being watched. Stay mindful of your body and take healthy decisions.
Keep tracking!