Activity trackers like Fitbit are common for monitoring steps taken and distance covered, but these devices are increasingly becoming instrumental in painting a bigger picture of overall health -- and in some cases, it can even help save a life.

When a 42-year-old man from New Jersey was recently rushed to an emergency room after a seizure, the doctors noticed he was was wearing a Fitbit Charge HR tracker.

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While most doctors don't have access to information such as when a patient first experienced an elevated heart rate before a seizure, the data collected on the device helped take some unknowns out of the equation.

By looking at the wristband device and its corresponding app, the doctors detected the onset of arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, leading up to the stroke. Learning that crucial information was instrumental in the medical decision-making process.

"Using the patient's activity tracker... we were able to pinpoint exactly when the patient's normal heart rate of 70 jumped up to 190."

"Using the patient's activity tracker -- in this case, a Fitbit -- we were able to pinpoint exactly when the patient's normal heart rate of 70 jumped up to 190," Dr. Alfred Sacchetti of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, N.J. said in a statement. "The device told us that the patient's atrial fibrillation was present for only a few hours. That was well within the 48-hour window needed to consider him for rhythm conversion, so we cardioverted him and sent him home."

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The incident, as described in the latest edition of Annals of Emergency Medicine, is the first known case of emergency room doctors using a fitness tracker and app as a part of the treatment medical decision-making process. The report notes that the patient had a previous history for strokes and forgot to take his medication earlier that day.

While not all activity trackers include heart-rate monitors -- although many do, including the Apple Watch -- this feature is becoming increasingly used as a key indicator for health. In fact, earlier this week, Adidas announced a new heart-rate wristband tracker called Zone that will be used in kindergarten through high school gym classes to measure student fitness.

Meanwhile, Fitbit recently made headlines when a Reddit user looked at his wife's Fitbit data and noticed her heart rate was well above normal -- only to learn via feedback on the popular message-board site that the uptick could hint at pregnancy (and as it turns out, in fact, she was pregnant).  

Although fitness trackers are not classified as medical devices, looking at collected health data is one way doctors can learn more about a patient and make better-informed treatment decisions. 

"Not all activity trackers measure heart rates, but this is the function of most value to medical providers," said Dr. Sacchetti, discussing the seizure treatment. "Dizziness with a heart rate of 180 would be approached very differently from the same complaint with a heart rate of 30. At present, activity trackers are not considered approved medical devices and use of their information to make medical decisions is at the clinician's own discretion.

“However, the increased use of these devices has the potential to provide emergency physicians with objective clinical information prior to the patient's arrival at the emergency department."

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TopicsFitbitHealth