Fitbit Captures Patient Recovery
I wanted to take a moment and share a recent case study that I find to be particularly interesting. Most of the time when I work with a patient we start with a set of symptoms or even a known medical condition. Some tests are ordered, results observed and a plan of action is set in motion. An improvement in symptoms, and/or a follow up test weeks or months later tells us if our efforts were effective. But an interesting thing is starting to happen. My patients are coming in wearing a Fitbit or some other handy device that measures all sorts of things about their daily physiology. This provides for both of us some powerful feedback in real time as to how the strategies we are employing are actually working. The basis of this piece is in regards to just such a patient experience.
I was introduced to this patient, who I will call Margaret for the purpose of anonymity, by one of my existing patients. Margaret lived in Nebraska at the time and was interested in doing some long distance consultation with me after watching an online video interview I did on thyroid health. Her primary concerns were tachycardia (increased/racing heart rate), obesity and thyroid health. We ordered some tests long distance with particular interest in the thyroid system because from my perspective the thyroid is the common thread with all of her concerns. Results came back and she was right about the thyroid. For the first time in her life someone tested her for an autoimmune thyroid condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and she was clearly positive. This $15 add on to her basic blood test gave her an answer as to why she has been struggling with her health.
Hashimoto’s Thyroid patients generally struggle with basic low thyroid symptoms like difficulty losing weight or frank weight gain, lethargy, constipation, hair loss, depression and many other symptoms. However as the immune system surges with random attacks against the thyroid gland, thyroid cells are killed. There will be spikes of thyroid hormones released into the bloodstream temporarily which present as hyperthyroid symptoms. These can include anxiety, insomnia, diarrhea and yep, tachycardia. Her racing heart rate was a consequence of aggressive, unchecked autoimmune attacks against her thyroid gland!
So we went down the path of autoimmune physiology support from the Functional Medicine perspective and Margaret was nothing short of eager to go aggressive with this approach. She was desperate to feel better. The racing heart was getting downright scary to say the least and did present a true medical concern. But she took to heart my recommendations. She made some diet and lifestyle changes, took the supplements and within only a couple of weeks I was happy to hear that her symptoms were beginning to improve. A few weeks more and the racing heart was almost a thing of the past. Not only that - her weight began to drop.
Unbeknownst to me Margaret was tracking the whole thing on her Fitbit device. She sent me a screenshot from her device which I have included here. We can see that in a thirty day period her resting heart rate went from 80 beats per minute down to 68. These measurements were taken at roughly the same time of day during absolute rest.
Results like this provide us with a few things. First and foremost it provides the person with a real time check in with how things are progressing. Often times a person may not get back in for a blood test to track progress before dropping off. That is always unfortunate. But second it provides me with no nonsense data that I can use to determine if my strategies are working. It keeps both patient and practitioner on point. What this data tells me is that if proper testing is done, the proper support is applied, and the compliance is high, good things can happen. Margaret recently moved to San Diego from Nebraska and I look forward to continuing my work with her. Things are looking up for her and I am so happy that I was able to help from so far away.
If you are struggling with some aspect of your health and need a fresh perspective I am always happy to assist. Don’t let distance be a limiting factor to getting help. And if you happen to have a cool little gizmo like a Fitbit then let’s work that into your experience as well.
