Simon M
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Mike Snyder is a pioneer and I thought he gave the standout talk at Stanford this year.
Stanford symposium: the potential of smartphones to better understand diseases, including ME/CFS
“We think smartphones will be the most important health tool in future”, said Dr Michael Snyder at the recent Stanford ME/CFS symposium. Snyder heads up the Stanford Centre for Genomics and Precision Medicine, as well as the Genetics Department at Stanford University.
Dr Michael Snyder. Check out all those wearables on his wrists.
His presentation highlighted the potential of technologies to monitor health and better understand diseases – including ME/CFS.
Snyder’s work on personal, data-driven medicine kicked off with a landmark paper in 2012 (which wasn’t covered in his talk). This revealed insights from deep molecular profiling over 14 months of a single person – Snyder himself.
The study tracked over 40,000 different biological molecules and integrated the findings with data from clinical tests and other sources. This is in addition to analysing Snyder’s full genome sequence.
From data to diagnosis
The study team’s analysis uncovered extensive changes in biological pathways over time, both when Snyder was healthy and when he was sick. But the standout finding was spotting diabetes as it developed in Snyder.
Snyder had no family history of diabetes, nor any lifestyle factor such as carrying too much weight. Even so, the genome analysis indicated he had a genetic risk of type II diabetes. And after one viral infection, his blood glucose levels ramped up to much higher levels than before the infection: it looked like he might have developed by diabetes. Snyder had no obvious signs of the illness, but a visit to the doctor confirmed that he did indeed now have type II diabetes.
Prompt detection of the disease the moment it developed gave Snyder the chance to act fast. And he has been able to manage his illness through dietary and lifestyle changes, and without needing any medication. LINK
A second study showed this early detection was no one-off. Taking a similar approach, Snyder and his team made over 50 discoveries of significant health problems, including heart problems, a blood cancer and two precancerous conditions, among the 109 people studied. Most cases involved early detection of disease before symptoms had even started.
Taking it to the masses: the shift to wearable devices
The results were impressive but depended on a large budget and access to a state-of-the-art lab. Snyder wondered if a simpler approach would work.
The expanded study had included data from wearables, such as Fitbits, tracking a range of factors including physical activity, heart rate and skin temperature. Could wearables alone provide useful information about health?
So, Snyder began tracking himself with wearables. At one point in his talk, he held up his arms to show he was manacled with wearables devices. He said that even his ring was actually a biosensor. To top it all, he produced a radiation monitor from his pocket.
Read the full blog
Stanford symposium: the potential of smartphones to better understand diseases, including ME/CFS
“We think smartphones will be the most important health tool in future”, said Dr Michael Snyder at the recent Stanford ME/CFS symposium. Snyder heads up the Stanford Centre for Genomics and Precision Medicine, as well as the Genetics Department at Stanford University.
Dr Michael Snyder. Check out all those wearables on his wrists.
His presentation highlighted the potential of technologies to monitor health and better understand diseases – including ME/CFS.
Snyder’s work on personal, data-driven medicine kicked off with a landmark paper in 2012 (which wasn’t covered in his talk). This revealed insights from deep molecular profiling over 14 months of a single person – Snyder himself.
The study tracked over 40,000 different biological molecules and integrated the findings with data from clinical tests and other sources. This is in addition to analysing Snyder’s full genome sequence.
From data to diagnosis
The study team’s analysis uncovered extensive changes in biological pathways over time, both when Snyder was healthy and when he was sick. But the standout finding was spotting diabetes as it developed in Snyder.
Snyder had no family history of diabetes, nor any lifestyle factor such as carrying too much weight. Even so, the genome analysis indicated he had a genetic risk of type II diabetes. And after one viral infection, his blood glucose levels ramped up to much higher levels than before the infection: it looked like he might have developed by diabetes. Snyder had no obvious signs of the illness, but a visit to the doctor confirmed that he did indeed now have type II diabetes.
Prompt detection of the disease the moment it developed gave Snyder the chance to act fast. And he has been able to manage his illness through dietary and lifestyle changes, and without needing any medication. LINK
A second study showed this early detection was no one-off. Taking a similar approach, Snyder and his team made over 50 discoveries of significant health problems, including heart problems, a blood cancer and two precancerous conditions, among the 109 people studied. Most cases involved early detection of disease before symptoms had even started.
Taking it to the masses: the shift to wearable devices
The results were impressive but depended on a large budget and access to a state-of-the-art lab. Snyder wondered if a simpler approach would work.
The expanded study had included data from wearables, such as Fitbits, tracking a range of factors including physical activity, heart rate and skin temperature. Could wearables alone provide useful information about health?
So, Snyder began tracking himself with wearables. At one point in his talk, he held up his arms to show he was manacled with wearables devices. He said that even his ring was actually a biosensor. To top it all, he produced a radiation monitor from his pocket.
Read the full blog
