Creating a quantified self: How I use data to combat chronic health issues
There’s no easy way around having chronic health issues. For people who have illness’ like food allergies, diabetes, depression, or others, life can feel like an insurmountable task. It is an uphill battle with oneself in order to be the best possible version of yourself. However, as with most aspects of life, technology is trying to make it easier. With the rise of personal tracking tech, people are taking charge of their health and creating a quantified self.
The quantified self is a movement based on using personal data collected to “promote self-knowledge through numbers” says Deborah Lupton author of The quantified self : a sociology of self-tracking. There are many ways to do this tracking but most people use an app and/or wearable device. These systems can track everything from steps and heart rate to caloric and fluid intake. Thankfully most applications compile this data in a visual and easy to understand way.
So you’ve got all of this personal data… now what? It’s great to know that you’ve walked 3000 steps today or that you’ve drank 83 ounces of fluids but if we aren’t motivated to use the data to make a choice it can fall by the wayside. This is how I learned to take charge of my health.
I suffer from celiac sprue disease(allergic to wheat, rye, barley and gluten)and seasonal adjustment disorder(vitamin D deficiency). I have a low body weight and a very high metabolism. Before I started tracking my health I assumed that I was a pretty healthy guy and doctors have continually confirmed this. I’ve even had a doctor tell me I was “overly healthy” in terms of my blood chemistry. However this year has been a challenge. My celiac has gotten worse in terms of continuing symptoms. The seasonal adjustment disorder is a new battle. On top of all of this I’ve lost a significant amount of weight. I’m 6' and I weigh 128lbs. It’s not a pretty picture but it’s what I deal with everyday.
To combat these continuing symptoms after yet another useless doctor visit I started to track my habits to see if there were any patterns. Not surprisingly I found some interesting things.
I would bet almost all smartphones have some version of a health app. ios 10 has quite a robust system for tracking on its own but I paired with an Apple watch to get the most out of what I knew I wanted to track. I now use 4 apps in unison to track and input key data points into the Health App. I track my water intake through iHydrate. It uses a system of reminders to make sure I drink enough. Turns out I was chronically dehydrated, drinking less than 75 ounces of water a day.
Since weight is one of my issues, I’ve been tracking my caloric intake through Under Armor’s MyFitnessPal. It uses a simple search system to find foods so I’m not manually inputting every calorie. It also has a goal feature so I can set how much weight I want to gain. It then sets a daily caloric intake level so you know how much to eat. Turns out I’ve been living on less than 1600 calories a day when I’ve needed about 2500 in order to gain weight. Another thing that is an issue with caloric intake is how much energy I’m exerting. The activity app built into the iPhone tracks steps taken, time standing and exercising, calories burned, heart rate and even sleep patterns.
This leads us to, the Pillow App, which I use to track my sleep patterns. Sleep can be broken down into four categories: awake, light sleep, deep sleep and REM or Rapid Eye Movement sleep. As humans we need certain levels of REM sleep at night to actually get rest. No REM pattern= no Rest. Again after studying my personal data I found that I get very little REM sleep a night despite feeling like I sleep a lot.
So what do I take away from all of this data? That I can do a better job taking care of myself and to not trust doctors implicitly. Again I was told that I was “overly” healthy by my medical doctor. I think this data points in a different direction. I now hydrate, eat and sleep more in an effort to be the best person I can be with my chronic medical conditions. I just got hiking boots for my uphill battle.
