A health tracker hailed as England’s Euros ‘secret weapon’ could help predict whether you have diabetes, a new study has found.
Researchers found that sleep tracking data measured by the Oura Ring, unique among trackers because it is a ring worn on the finger, could also detect illnesses like the flu or Covid.
Fans of trendy Finnish technology already include Gwyneth Paltrow, Cristiano Ronaldo and even Prince Harry.
The scientists, who tracked the sleep patterns of more than 30,000 Americans, They identified five main types of sleep, which they called sleep phenotypes.
They found that how often someone switches between phenotypes could help predict health conditions.
Prince Harry made waves around the Oura ring in 2018 when he was photographed wearing titanium jewelry during a trip to Australia. The Duke of Sussex wore the black band on his right ring finger during the first three days of walking around Australia with Meghan Markle.
The Oura Ring has become an addition to England’s arsenal as they compete in the European Championships. Several players have also used the hoop while training. In the photo, Marc Guehi with the Finnish shirt.
Professor Benjamin Smarr, co-author of the study and data science expert at the University of California, San Diego: “We found that small changes in sleep quality helped us identify health risks.”
The Oura ring, launched in 2013 by Oura Health, a Finnish technology company, cIt comes with a hefty price tag, starting at £299 and costs up to £549.
The company claims the ring is the first wearable device designed to offer a truly holistic picture of your health.
On social media, users obsess over their sleep and stress scores and confess to making drastic lifestyle changes, such as quitting alcohol or improving their sleeping habits, to get better results.
Wellness guru Gwyneth Paltrow, 51, has shared snaps of herself wearing the ring on multiple occasions.
Inside the ring, there are three sensors: small infrared lights that measure heart and breathing rates, while an accelerometer tracks movement and a body temperature monitor detects fever and predicts women’s menstrual cycles.
While an Apple Watch, Garmin or Fitbit records much of the same data, Oura insists that being a ring sets it apart.
The placement (index finger recommended) means it captures signals directly from the heart to provide better data than can be collected on the wrist, he says.
In the study, scientists tracked data from more than five million nights of sleep from 33,152 participants and recorded how often they switched between phenotypes.
They found that they could detect up to 10 times more information from those with fever than without the ring.
Kim Kardashian, 43, previously shared a snapshot of her Oura ring’s biometric data on her Instagram Story and then challenged the brand to a sleep quality competition.
This represents three and five times more information in the case of flu and Covid, respectively.
The device also provided twice as much information on sleep apnea and diabetes.
Writing in the diary, npj Digital MedicineThe researchers said: “People with diabetes and sleep apnea are more likely to remain in insomnia-like sleep groups.”
“There are significant differences in the distribution between the months before and the weeks around the diagnoses of Covid, flu and fever.”
Professor Edward Wang, co-author of the study and an expert in mobile health sensors at the University of California, San Diego, added: “We found that small differences in how sleep interruptions occur can tell us a lot.
The Oura ring, launched in 2013 by Oura Health, a Finnish technology company, is priced high, starting at £299 and costing up to £549. The company claims that the ring is the first wearable device designed to offer a truly holistic picture of your health.
«Although these cases are rare, their frequency is also revealing.
“So it’s not just about whether you sleep well or not, but the sleep patterns over time where key information is hidden.”
The researchers, however, acknowledged that the study had “several limitations,” including the exclusive participation of those who already owned an expensive Oura ring.
The results were also based on participants reporting their ringing data, that is, “some “healthy” periods. may contain unreported conditions.