Fitbit, any use?

carol43 said:

I have a Vivofit, same sort of thing. It counts arm swing as you walk, so you could stand in your house and swing your arm and it will count. I found this out by doing my normal walk but it was cold so I had my hands in my pockets so accordingly I didn't go anywhere.

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Biggles2 said:

Hi @SueJB. I've seen a lot of interest recently in sleep quality and type 2 diabetes. One area where a Fitbit might be very useful is in sleep tracking and Fitbit is definitely moving into this space:
https://investor.fitbit.com/press/p...-Light-REM-and-Deep-Sleep-Stages/default.aspx

Here is a snippet from a recent interview with Fitbit's lead research scientist:

'Sleep apnea is characterized by pauses in breathing and shallow breath and comes with an increased risk of heart failure, obesity and strokes. One of the biggest concerns is that a lot of people don't realize they have it.
"We'd perform a useful public service by alerting users to the fact that they have a problem," said Conor Heneghan, Fitbit's lead research scientist, in an interview.'​

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/fit...-apnea-to-expand-beyond-fitness-tracking.html

Here is a link to an informative article on sleep quality and type 2 diabetes:
https://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/type-2-diabetes-guide-healthy-habits/sleep-quality-matters/

There are several studies/journal articles out there regarding sleep quality and its effects on diabetes control. Here is a link to a recent one:
'Effects of diabetes mellitus on sleep quality':
Here is a snippet from the conclusion:

‘DM is one of the most common diseases worldwide. DM, in addition to causing direct sleep disturbances as a result of nocturia, polyuria, diabetic neuropathy and neuropathy pain, has also been associated with several chronic illness as obstructive sleep apnea, cardiovascular complications, hypertension, cerebrovascular accidents and depression which can impair sleep and quality of life. The patient may not bring the sleep issues during their visit to healthcare providers, with acute issues taking precedence during their visit.’​

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4478581/pdf/WJD-6-868.pdf

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DCUKMod said:

I have an activity monitor, which isn't a Fitbit, but it does do some "fun" things.

I bought it after a presentation by a researcher commenting on exercise. His comments made me wonder how much I was actually doing, as opposed to what I thought I was doing. It seems sometimes I under and sometimes over estimate what I've been up to.

I know in my local diabetes group we discussed activity trackers and some found them motivational and others felt they were something to rebel against.

Like most things in life and diabetes, it's a personal choice.

(Erm,............. today I've not done as much moving around as usual, but it was sleeting when I was out!)

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Pipp said:

I do use a garmin vivofit, which tracks activity. It claims to be tracking steps, but as most of my exercise is in a swimming pool, not that accurate. What I do find useful is that it also tracks movement and sleep. I sleep a lot. It can also be synched with the app 'myfitnesspal' so I can monitor effects of diet and exercise. Data is then stored, so I have record of sleep and exercise along with calories in and out. Most useful is the red marker on the wristband that appears if I sit still for an hour. The red marker line increases every 15 minutes. It sort of goads me into getting up and moving. The daily steps target increases gradually as long as I meet the set target for any single day. It reduces when I have been less active, which really doesn't motivate me as much as a small static electric shock would.

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