Will wearables revolutionise healthcare? Cardiff Science Festival special
Mar 11, 2025
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Join Professor Kathryn Peall, a leading researcher from Cardiff University focused on early Parkinson's detection and innovative sleep technologies, alongside Professor Damian Bailey, a specialist in physiology from the University of South Wales. They discuss the groundbreaking potential of wearable tech in predicting health conditions and enhancing sleep monitoring. The conversation also touches on the role of wearables in space travel and managing chronic illnesses, painting a promising picture of how technology can revolutionize healthcare.
Wearable technology is revolutionizing healthcare by enabling personalized health monitoring and potentially predicting conditions like sickle cell crises.
Despite their benefits, challenges such as data accuracy and user anxiety must be addressed for wearables to be effectively integrated into mainstream healthcare.
Deep dives
Advancements in Wearable Technology
Wearable technology has seen rapid advancements, enabling users to monitor various health aspects such as sleep, heart rate, and even fertility. Devices like smartwatches allow users to gain valuable insights into their daily activity levels, serving as both fitness and health trackers. Real-life applications have already emerged, where wearables help individuals manage conditions such as insomnia and pain through personalized monitoring. This ongoing evolution suggests a promising future in which wearables may significantly benefit the healthcare system by providing critical health data remotely.
Predictive Healthcare and Patient Empowerment
Wearable devices have the potential to predict health crises, providing early warning signs that can help patients manage chronic conditions like sickle cell anemia. By analyzing data from wearables, healthcare providers can anticipate painful episodes and guide patients on preventative measures, leading to improved quality of life. For instance, certain heart rate changes can alert patients to an impending painful crisis, allowing for timely interventions. This proactive approach empowers patients to take charge of their health, highlighting the shift toward personalized and preventative healthcare.
Challenges and Future Outlook of Wearables in Healthcare
While wearables offer promising benefits, challenges remain in integrating this technology into mainstream healthcare practices, particularly in the NHS. There are concerns about the accuracy of data across different devices and the potential for creating anxiety among users regarding health monitoring. Clinicians emphasize the need for context when interpreting wearable data to enhance patient-doctor discussions effectively. Looking ahead, there's optimism that wearables could transition healthcare toward a model focused on wellness and prevention rather than solely treatment, provided ongoing research and funding continue to support these innovations.
Fitness trackers at the ready! Join James Gallagher at Cardiff Science Festival as he runs through the ways wearable tech is making an impact on health and how it might shape the future of medicines and care. With him are Dr Sanne Lugthart, Haematology consultant at the University Hospital of Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. She's pioneering using wearables and an app to track pain in people who suffer from sickle cell disease.
Also on the panel is Professor Kathryn Peall who is Personal Chair, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences at Cardiff University. Kathryn tells James all about working with data from the UK Biobank to test if wearables could predict Parkinson's disease. She's also developing 80s-style headbands that could help take hospital grade sleep monitoring to the comfort of the bedroom. And, running experiments with the audience and on his skydiving assistant Danni, James is also joined by Damian Bailey, Professor of Physiology and Biochemistry from the University of South Wales.
Presenter: James Gallagher
Producers: Tom Bonnett and Hannah Robins
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Editor: Colin Paterson
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