Keeping Track Of Your Health

From heart rate to cholesterol levels, health trackers mean we’re discovering all our vital numbers. We ask the experts what those figures mean

With doctors urging us to monitor our vital health statistics, and with fitness trackers and devices doing just that, health tech increasingly permeates our lives. Read on to discover what those gadgets could reveal about your health, and how you can use the information to improve your well-being.

3 SECRETS YOUR FITNESS TRACKER CAN REVEAL

1 If you got a good night’s sleep

We’re all obsessed with sleep and many trackers tap into that interest. By monitoring wrist movements, they estimate how much time you actually spend asleep in a night and some also claim to measure periods of light or deep sleep, again based on movement. Dedicated sleep tracking devices give more detail but nowhere near the level of information a sleep lab would gather.

NEED TO KNOW: Seven to nine hours sleep is optimum, but research shows that women aged 40 and above are more likely to have sleep problems than men, probably due to fluctuating hormone levels.

2 How healthy your heart is