In the fall of 2019, Fitbit announced a collaboration with Taiwan-based diabetes management software company Health2Sync. The partnership gave Fitbit users in Japan and Taiwan the option to sync their personal health and fitness data with the Health2Sync mobile app. A recent clinical study demonstrates that using the two integrated platforms can help patients with Type 2 diabetes improve their health.
Clinicians at four health clinics in Taiwan began by obtaining baseline diabetes markers in 95 study participants, including body weight and blood levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C), glucose, and LDL cholesterol. For the next three months, doctors used the Health2Sync app to track each patient as they made lifestyle changes that were recommended by the app and they used their Fitbit Inspire to assist them in improving their overall wellness. The physicians also provided remote guidance to help participants as they took steps to develop healthier nutrition and exercise choices.
Compared to the baseline data, participants saw an average decrease in HbA1C of .33%, an average reduction in fasting blood glucose of 10.92 mg/dl, and an average decrease of 11.55 mg/dl in LDL cholesterol. Some patients saw a reduction in body weight of up to two kilograms. They also saw a significant increase in the frequency of their moderate to high-intensity exercise sessions; those patients who performed 150 minutes per week of moderate to high-intensity activity saw an average HbA1C decrease of .66%
Committing to a healthy lifestyle can significantly improve the symptoms of diabetes and reduce the risk of debilitating and expensive medical complications. The improvements in biomarker data gathering and analysis, along with the visible trend toward healthier lifestyle choices, suggest that seamlessly integrating data from a wearable such as Fitbit with a streamlined platform such as Health2Sync can produce measurable benefits for individuals living with Type 2 diabetes. The dual-platform can provide insight and boost motivation, leading to a clear improvement in health outcomes.
