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Wearable devices like Fitbit can predict IBD flares 7 weeks in advance

Wrist-worn devices could give advance notice of when the wearer might experience an IBD flare.

For people with the unpredictable conditions falling under the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) umbrella, an early warning system for flares may one day be available in the wearable device on the wrist.
A new study from researchers at Mount Sinai reports that such devices can predict imminent inflammatory and symptomatic IBD flares as far in advance as 7 weeks.
With such advance notice, it will be possible for people with IBD and their physicians to adjust medications to blunt the upcoming flares before it arrives.
The wearables already track physiological indicators such as heart rate, heart rate variability, steps, and pulse oximetry that exhibit significant changes far in advance of IBD flare-ups.

Wearable devices could provide an unprecedented 7 weeks’ advance warning of an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) flare, according to a new study published by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

The study finds that significant changes in physiological metrics tracked by three popular wearable devices, Apple Watch, Fitbit, and the Oura Ring, occurred in the weeks preceding an IBD flare.

What are the signs of an IBD flare?

As many as 3.1 million Americans have IBD, an umbrella-term form conditions — primarily Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis — in which inflammation of the bowel produces various unwelcome and often painful digestive symptoms.

IBD tends not to be continually active, and people who have it may go for extended periods without experiencing a flare-up of the symptoms that typically arrives without warning.

In the early stages of a flare, a physician may seek confirmation with a blood test and stool analysis, but at that point, the event is already underway. There is a need to better predict flares before they happen.

The Mount Sinai researchers identified signals in the body that turned out to be associated with an imminent flare-up of IBD symptoms:

longitudinal heart rate — heart rate changes over time
resting heart rate — a person’s heart rate when resting
heart rate variability — the amount of variation in time between heartbeats, or their regularity
steps — an indicator or physical activity
oxygenation — or pulse ox, the amount of oxygen blood hemoglobin is carrying.

Significantly, all of these indicators exhibited changes from baseline values up to 7 weeks before any indication of inflammation or IBD symptoms.

For the study, the authors recruited 309 adults from across the United States. All participants had a diagnosis of either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, and were taking medication for IBD.

Participants were expected to wear their devices 8 hours a day and respond to questionnaires a minimum of four times a week. The study began in December 2021 and ran until June 2023, with individuals remaining involved for as long as they wished.

High blood pressure poses several health risks, including a potentially higher risk for cognitive impairment.

Researchers are interested in finding what protective factors can help reduce the risk of cognitive problems among individuals with high blood pressure.

A recent study suggests that vigorous exercise habits may help decrease the risk of future cognitive impairment.
Impairment of cognitive function can affect all aspects of a person’s life, including quality of life and day-to-day activities.

Multiple factors can contribute to someone’s risk of developing problems in cognitive function, including high blood pressure, or hypertension. Researchers are interested in finding potential protective actions that people with high blood pressure can take.

A new study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association examined the relationship between vigorous physical activity and risk for mild cognitive impairment among people with high blood pressure.

Researchers found that participants who engaged in one or more sessions of vigorous physical activity each week were at a lower risk for mild cognitive impairment and probable dementia.

The results suggest that vigorous exercise may help preserve cognitive function among certain individuals.

High blood pressure’s impact on cognitive function

High blood pressure occurs when the force of blood pressing against blood vessel walls gets outside of a certain range. It can lead to damaged blood vessels and increase people’s risk for heart problems and stroke.

A normal blood pressure reading is less than 120/80 millimeter of mercury (mmHg), and doctors may diagnose someone with high blood pressure when a systolic reading 130 mmHg or more or when a diastolic reading is 80 mmHg or more.

Previous research has also linked high blood pressure in midlife with a higher risk for cognitive disorders. The authors of the current study note that people with high blood pressure are at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and mild cognitive impairment.

José Morales, MD, a vascular neurologist and neurointerventional surgeon at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, CA, not involved in the current research, explained to Medical News Today that:

“Hypertension damages the small blood vessels in our brain and also causes them to malfunction. This results in progressive damage to the brain, which in turn leads to cognitive impairment.”

Vigorous exercise as protective factor for cognition

The researchers who conducted the current study wanted to evaluate if vigorous exercise helped with the risk for mild cognitive impairment and probable dementia.

This study was a post hoc analysis using data from the SPRINT MIND STUDY, which formed part of the SPRINT trial. This trial involved over 9,000 adults in the United States who had high blood pressure.

At enrolment, participants were asked about the frequency of participating in vigorous physical activity. Vigorous physical activity was defined as activities that induced sweat, increased heart rate, or increased breathing.

Participants could pick their level of vigorous physical activity from the following categories:

- Rarely or never
- One to three vigorous activity sessions a month
- One vigorous activity session a week
- Two to four vigorous activity sessions a week
- Five or more vigorous activity sessions a week.

In the analysis, researchers divided participants into a low-vigorous physical activity group and a high-vigorous physical activity group.

The low-vigorous physical activity group had less than one vigorous activity session a week, and the high-vigorous physical activity group had one or more vigorous activity sessions a week.

All participants also underwent cognitive assessment tests, and covariates included components like age, education, smoking, use of antihypertensive medication, body mass index (BMI), and alcohol use.

The researchers excluded participants who had limited physical function or missing cognitive assessments, allowing them to include 7,670 participants in their final analysis.

The average follow-up time with participants was 4.5 years, and over this time, there were identified cases of mild cognitive impairment and probable dementia.

Overall, participants in the high vigorous physical activity group were at a lower risk for mild cognitive impairment and probable dementia.

The association was stronger among participants less than 75 years old at baseline, and Black participants. The association also appeared stronger in participants with prior cardiovascular disease.

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