rewrite this title Got wearable data? Your doctor can help you connect the dots

The American Academy of Neurology issued guidance on using wearable data devices, like smartwatches or an Oura Ring, to track key health metrics that can help flag serious conditions.

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

Millions of Americans wear smart rings or smart watches to the point that wearable tech is now a $100 billion business. So what’s the best way to interpret the data those devices collect on everything from exercise to sleep? Here’s NPR’s Allison Aubrey.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: If you’ve ever had a migraine, you know how horrible they can be, and getting a handle on what triggers them can be very helpful. Several years back, Sophie Krupp decided to try a wearable device.

SOPHIE KRUPP: I felt like there were these patterns that were really related to my symptoms, but I didn’t know how to connect them.

AUBREY: She checked out all the options, everything from a smart watch to the more minimalist WHOOP band, before deciding on an Oura Ring.

KRUPP: It’s just, like, a small ring that you place on your finger, and it has little sensors on the inside.

AUBREY: Which measures temperature, sleep quality and heart rate. Within a short while, Sophie began to see some trends. The quality of her sleep seemed connected to her migraines. Small changes in body temperature due to hormones was also linked to the likelihood of a migraine flare, and even a rare drink of alcohol could be a factor.

KRUPP: It was just so obvious how little, like, behavioral changes can have a big impact.

AUBREY: She sees a neurologist for her migraines, Dr. Sarah Benish with M Health Fairview in Minnesota.

SARAH BENISH: If one of our patients brings in data from the wearable, it expands how much information we can look at.

AUBREY: Which can help her do her job better. In Sophie’s case, Benish says the wearable can forecast that a migraine flare may be coming on, so connecting the dots can be super helpful. Dr. Benish is the author of new informal guidance from the American Academy of Neurology pointing to the potential benefits and challenges. She says patients can come in with lots of information.

BENISH: What I ask from my patients is just a little bit of grace.

AUBREY: The goal is to decipher the data as a team because sometimes these devices can detect a serious condition.

BENISH: The smart watches can give a notification that the heart rate seems irregular, and that’s what a cardiac arrhythmia is.

AUBREY: And that can put people at risk of a stroke or other cardiac events. So this helps doctors determine what tests or treatment should come next. Dr. Lucy McBride, a physician in Washington, D.C., says, your doctor can play the role of a medical guide.

LUCY MCBRIDE: So I had a patient come to tell me that his sleep was interrupted, and it turns out his Apple Watch was showing us that his heart rate dropped dangerously low in his sleep.

AUBREY: He saw a cardiologist and got a pacemaker, which is potentially lifesaving.

MCBRIDE: Without a medical guide, it’s hard to know how to make sense of this data.

AUBREY: And Dr. McBride’s advice is this – don’t just show up to your appointment with a data dump.

MCBRIDE: Report patterns, not just single data points. For example, a week of disrupted sleep after a major life stressor tells a story. One bad night does not.

AUBREY: McBride coaches her patients not to focus so much on data that they stop listening to their body.

MCBRIDE: The most important health data still lives in your biography, your story, your stress, your relationships with food, alcohol, your mother.

AUBREY: And there’s no tracker to capture all that. So McBride says your data and your story both matter when it comes to sharing information and making decisions about your health. Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

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