Wearables can tell if you are sick before you can

New research from Stanford shows that fitness monitors and other wearable biosensors can tell when your heart rate, skin temperature and other measures are abnormal, suggesting possible illness.

Wearable sensors that monitor heart rate, activity, skin temperature and other variables can reveal a lot about what is going on inside you, including the onset of infection, inflammation and even insulin resistance, according to a study by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine.

An important component of the ongoing study is to establish a range of normal, or baseline values for each person in the study and when they are ill. “We want to study people at an individual level,” said Michael Snyder, PhD, professor and chair of genetics.