Fitbits and smart watches ‘could predict signs of cancer, heart disease and diabetes BEFORE they appear’
FITBIT-like wearables could one day diagnose killers including cancer and heart disease, experts hope.
By tracking a person's heart rate, skin temperature and other key markers the devices can predict infections and disease before they strike.
And scientists believe they could detect inflammation and even insulin resistance - which can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Professor Michael Snyder, chair of genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine diagnosed himself with Lyme disease, while he was taking part in his own study.
On a flight to Norway with his family last year he noticed changes in his heart rate and blood oxygen levels.
As one of 60 people taking part in the study he was wearing seven biosensors.
Having worn the sensors on flights before, he expected his oxygen levels to drop and heart rate to rise while on the flight, and return to normal when he landed.
But, his numbers failed to return to normal.
Something was up!
Prof Snyder was unsurprised when he then went on to develop a fever and other signs of illness.
Two weeks earlier, he had been helping his brother build a fence in the countryside, so he feared he could have been bitten by a tick and developed Lyme disease.
His fears were realised after he went for tests.
The fact you can pick up infections by monitoring before they happen is very provocative
Professor Eric Topol
Prof Snyder said despite his diagnosis, he was impressed the wearable biosensors picked up the infection before he even knew he was sick.
"Wearables helped make the initial diagnosis," he said.
"The fact you can pick up infections by monitoring before they happen is very provocative," added Prof Eric Topol, from the Scripps Research Institute, who was not involved in the study.
In total, Prof Synder's team have collected nearly two billion measurements from 60 people taking part in their study.
They collected data on weight, heart rate, oxygen in the blood, skin temperature, activity levels including sleep, steps, walking and running, calories burned off, acceleration and even exposure to X-rays.
The findings, published in the journal PLOS Biology, show wearables are able to detect slight changes that can predict ill health.
Prof Snyder believes his diagnosis of Lyme disease is "just the tip of the iceberg".
He hopes in future it will be possible to use the devices to identify inflammatory diseases before they even show symptoms.
His team's findings suggest it could be possible to detect a marker in the immune system that is indicative of cancer, heart disease or diabetes.
And researchers said the wearable devices were able identify those people with insulin resistance - a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
Typically, when visiting your GP you will have your blood pressure and body temperature measured.
But, this data is only collected on an irregular basis, when you make a doctor's appointment - which for some can be years apart.
In future, our health could be continuously monitored via wearable technology, to help spot killer diseases in their earliest stages.
Prof Snyder said: "We have more sensors in our cars than we have on human beings.";
In future, he hopes to see the situation reversed.
Already, around 50 million of us wear smart watches, while 20 million use other fitness monitors.
But, these could be easily adjusted to more directly track health measures, he revealed.