The data from wearables means nothing. Does it?

A recent post by my friend Dr. BertalanMesko (@Berci) describes his experience with the use of personal monitoring devices. Maybe I’m mistaken, and if so please forgive me, but in the post,  I sensed a bit of frustration about the true usefulness of these.

What I read there, fortuitously described and summarized what are also my own views on the use and value of wearable “trackers”.

I too, have tried several of them, to monitor everything from my cardiac frequency, temperature, O2 Saturation, BP, respiratory rate, quality of sleep, mood, relaxation, etc. I have frequently wondered about the usefulness of the results and in fact, have not being consistent or persistant  on wearing the devices. In fact, the main reason I keep wearing one now, is because of my participation on a Singapore-based study to try to make sense of the data obtained (more on that in the near future).

Data by itself means nothing UNLESS there’s a way to integrate the full picture, to draw conclusions that could really help us monitor and improve our lifestyle or profession.

I think that in the case of fairly healthy individuals, wearables, in general, probably have a very limited role.

We already know the  gross picture, the likely results, what our heart rate is, how we sleep, how far we walked, etc. We are usually good are  trying to keep ourselves active, to eat and sleep well, to “keep it healthy”!

 

 

Now, in the situation of “unhealthy”, sedentary, obese, ill or high-risk subjects, the data measurements play (or might play) a much more significant role. In their case, there could be a lot of potential for improvement on the results obtained. Even intuitive individual responses could affect the trend of the data output.

An app that measures the variables, but also with the AI to “guide” you to achieve healthy goals would really truly be a revolutionary tool.

In the case of the so-called Google Heath Wristband ( See my post ) the medical provider will apparently be in the equation (H+AI=HAI) and that will be a “game-changer” factor: a trained health professional (Human=H) and AI (AI), the app, working together on behalf of your health.

Perhaps HEALTH should be spelled HAILTH.