The data your smartwatch already collects could soon help flag an early warning sign for type 2 diabetes.
Hidden in the patterns of heart rate, sleep and daily activity captured by everyday wearables are subtle clues that, when combined with routine health data and analyzed with artificial intelligence (AI), can reveal insulin resistance, researchers report March 16 in Nature.
Roughly 20 percent to 40 percent of U.S. adults are estimated to be living with insulin resistance, which occurs when the body’s cells stop responding properly to the sugar-metabolizing hormone insulin — a key early event in the progression to type 2 diabetes. Most affected individuals are unaware of the