Fitbit offers you all the ability to monitor your heart health, stress and oxygen levels in some blood levels watches. Now the company is looking at blood glucose-monitoring with a new feature in the Fitbit app.
The addition is good news for those with diabetes, as well as anyone with a medical condition that can detect their blood sugar. But to be clear, sticking your finger with a glucometer is not a non-invasive alternative. This is a software update that allows users to report or enter their blood sugar levels, and then see how it relates to other health statistics such as sleep, exercise, and food over time. The app also lets users set custom ranges so they can potentially identify other factors that may be affecting their blood sugar levels. You can also get incentives to report your blood sugar.
Fitbit Premium users will get some more benefits, such as to see how often their glucose levels fall within a target range each month and other data trends. Premium users also get the ability to share their blood glucose data via the Fitbit health report feature.
While users can manually log their measurements, Fitbit says that everyone who uses LifeScan’s OneTouch Reveal app can also import their data automatically. The company says it plans to integrate with other meters and programs soon. To enable the feature, you can go to the Fitbit app’s Discover tab, press Health & Fitness Stats and add Blood Glucose. (If you haven’t seen it there yet, you may have to wait a bit, as Fitbit says the feature will launch this month.)
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More generally, it looks like blood glucose-monitoring can be the next big thing in health technology. Rumors claim that both Apple and Samsung is work on ways to monitor blood sugar non-invasively their next smartwatch. We also saw a non-invasive blood glucose –prototype of smartwatch at this year’s CES. It’s definitely more ambitious than what Fitbit currently offers, but the watches may also never see the light. A device that inaccurately reports blood sugar levels can be much more life-threatening than saying: a bad ECG reading, so these proposed devices will must also be FDA approved before entering the market.
Fitbit’s feature does not require FDA approval because it is strictly a tool to monitor your data. That said, it comes with an indemnity: it is not a substitute for a proper diagnosis from your doctor, nor is it something you should base your treatment on without talking to a doctor.
Fitbit also makes its health features accessible to more users by extending access to its Health Metrics dashboard. The feature was introduced last fall with the Sense and Versa 3, but is now available for Versa 2, Inspire 2 and Charge 4 users, though you will be limited to last week’s trends. As with blood glucose monitoring, Fitbit Premium members also gets the ability to see custom ranges within that dashboard. Charge 4 users also get a little SpO2 pampering in an upcoming update that allows them to view readings directly on the pulse; they can also see data on SpO2 and skin temperature in the dashboard. Meanwhile, Fitbit Sense users in Canada, New Zealand and US territories will also get the ECG app this month.