Fitbit already gives you the ability to monitor your heart health, stress and blood oxygen levels at some of your levels watches. Now the company is looking at blood glucosemonitoring with a new feature in the Fitbit app.
The addition is good news for people with diabetes, as well as for anyone with any disease who may need blood sugar monitoring. But to be clear, this is not a non-invasive alternative to finger pounding with a glucometer. It is a software update that allows users to record or import their blood sugar levels and then see how they relate to other health metrics such as sleeping, exercising and eating over time. The app will also allow users to set custom ranges so they can identify other factors that can affect blood sugar levels. You can also enable wrist reminders to record your blood sugar.
Fitbit Premium users will get some more benefits, such as see how often your glucose levels fall within a target range each month and other data trends. Premium users will also be able to share their blood glucose data using Fitbit’s Wellness Report feature.
Although users can manually record their measurements, Fitbit says anyone using LifeScan’s OneTouch Reveal app can also import their data automatically. The company says it plans to integrate with other counters and applications soon. To enable the feature, you can go to the Discover tab of the Fitbit app, click on Health and Fitness Statistics, and add blood glucose. (If you don’t see it yet, you may have to wait a bit, as Fitbit says the feature will be rolled out this month.)
G / O Media may receive a commission
Overall, it looks like blood glucosefollow-up may be the next big issue in healthcare technology. Rumors say that both Apple and samsung are working on ways to non-invasively control blood sugar their next smart watches. We also saw non-invasive blood glucose.smartwatch prototype monitoring a this year the CES. They are certainly more ambitious than the ones Fitbit currently offers, but these watches you may never see the light of day. A device that incorrectly reports blood sugar levels it could be much more life-threatening than saying it, a strange ECG reading, therefore these proposed devices will they also need FDA authorization before they reach the market.
Fitbit feature you don’t need FDA authorization because it is strictly a tool that will help you control your data. That said, it comes with a disclaimer: it doesn’t replace your doctor’s proper diagnosis, nor is it what you should base the treatment on without talking to a doctor.
Fitbit also makes its health features accessible to more users by expanding access to its Health Metrics dashboard. The feature was introduced with Sense and Versa 3 last fall, but will now be available to users of Versa 2, Inspire 2, and Charge 4, though it will limit you to last week’s trends. As with blood glucose control, Fitbit Premium members will do gain the ability to view personal intervals within this board as well. Charge 4 users also receive a small SpO2 treat in an upcoming update that will allow them to see the readings directly on the wrist; they will also be able to see SpO2 and skin temperature data on the board. Meanwhile, Fitbit Sense users in Canada, New Zealand and the US will also receive the ECG application this month as well.