The Rise of Health Tracking

We are seeing a real change in the way people look after their health. More people are having blood tests, monitoring blood pressure, weight or glucose, and repeating them regularly, not because they are unwell, but because they want to track their health.

This can be really useful. Repeat testing turns individual snapshots into trends.

Take HbA1c, the blood test we use to assess average blood glucose and screen for diabetes. A result of 40 mmol/mol is normal. On its own, you might simply be told, “Your diabetes screening is fine.”

But what if your previous results were 34, then 37, and now 40? You are still below the 42 mmol/mol threshold for prediabetes, but you are heading in the wrong direction. That might be exactly the time to look at weight, diet and activity and try to turn the trend around, rather than waiting until you develop a problem.

PSA testing in men is another good example. A single PSA can sometimes be difficult to interpret. When I see a raised result, one of the first things I look for is the previous reading. Has it suddenly jumped up, or has it been around the same level for several years? The trend does not give us the diagnosis, but it can be extremely useful in deciding what a result means and what should happen next.

But we are also seeing the other side of health tracking. People now arrive with smartwatch data, sleep scores, continuous glucose readings, large panels of blood tests and automated interpretations. Sometimes all this information creates more worry rather than less.

We increasingly see people who have accumulated lots of health data elsewhere and then come to us when they need help making sense of it. This often needs a longer GP appointment. Before we can interpret the numbers properly, we need to understand the person behind them, their current health, symptoms, medications, family history, previous results and sometimes examination findings.

That made us realise something. A private GP practice is actually very well placed to support people who want to track their health.

Rather than collecting data separately and only involving a doctor when something concerns you, your GP can share the journey. Your results build up over time alongside an understanding of your health.

You do not need to see a GP every time you want a test. But if something changes, or the amount of information simply becomes too much, your doctor already has the history and can help you make sense of it.

Sometimes that means acting earlier. Sometimes it means investigating further. And sometimes it simply means a doctor you know and trust looking at the whole picture and saying, “I’m not worried about this.”

That is why at 222 Healthcare we facilitate health tracking for people who want it.

The numbers are useful. The trends can be even more useful. But ultimately, making sense of them means understanding the person they belong to.