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How Patients With Chronic Diseases “Hack” Their Wearable Devices
In the months following the birth of my son in March 2019, my Fitbit started recording unusual heart rate readings. Pregnancy causes the resting heart rate to increase by about 20 beats per minute, then the rate falls back to its usual levels in the weeks following delivery. Instead, my resting heart rate continued to steadily increase after birth, a trend that was accompanied by other puzzling symptoms, including exhaustion that wouldn’t go away no matter how long I slept; constant and mild dizziness; and an inability to regain my former level of fitness no matter how hard I trained. Although finding an answer took years and dozens of doctor…
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A step in the right direction: the potential role of smartwatches in supporting chronic disease prevention in health care
Smartwatches can count every step towards a predictprevent health care system, but clinical regulation is the first leap Australia is struggling with the everincreasing burden of chronic disease. Over $38 billion per year is spent on care for people with chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.1 The majority of this funding is dedicated to acute care, and just 9.6% of health care investment supports disease prevention.1 Perversely, Australia’s health system is rewarded for increasing acute care activity (activitybased funding) to manage disease, which perpetuates inefficient breakfix models of care.2 The strain on acute care service provision has been accelerated by the COVID19 pandemic3 and Australia’s…