Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source.
Fitness tracking has come a long way since merely counting steps. Today, performance wearable Whoop has officially launched Advanced Labs, a new feature that connects blood test results with the company's continuous health monitoring platform. Whoop Advanced Labs is in partnership with Quest Diagnostics, adding to a growing trend of more and more wearables aiming to be comprehensive, one-stop health platforms. The launch comes after more than 350,000 members joined a waitlist following the feature's preview in May, signaling mighty strong appetite for this new level of integrated health tracking.
How Whoop will track bloodwork
Whoop Advanced Labs is designed to analyze biomarkers spanning metabolism, hormones, inflammation, cardiovascular health, and nutrient status—all data that goes far beyond what can be captured through wearable sensors alone. "At Whoop, we're committed to empowering our members with a highly comprehensive view into their health and performance," said John Sullivan, Chief Marketing Officer at Whoop.
The vision is that Whoop subscribers will be able access the types of clinical testing that physicians order (like from Quest Diagnostics) to deliver patient care. Here are the two ways that members can bring their bloodwork into their fitness tracking:
-
Upload pre-existing bloodwork. Members can now upload results from any lab provider directly into the Whoop app at no additional cost. This is a way to centralize all results, track long-term trends, and connect bloodwork findings to data on sleep, training, recovery, and lifestyle.
-
Book comprehensive testing through the Whoop app. Members who subscribe to Whoop Advanced Labs and schedule curated blood tests directly through the app. From there, results are automatically synced to the Whoops app and reviewed by a clinician who provides expert context. Subscription options include: one test for $199, two tests per year for $349, or four tests per year for $599, with additional tests available at discounted rates.
To clarify, a third-party provider will review test requests, order tests, deliver results through the Whoop app, and provide phone consultations when requested. All tests are reviewed and ordered by a licensed healthcare provider.
Do you really need to monitor everything?
Again, Whoop isn't the first wearable company to head in this direction. Ultrahuman, the maker of the Ring AIR smart ring, launched its Blood Vision feature earlier this year.
This feature can help people catch health issues early and take proactive steps to address them. At the same time, it raises questions about whether consumers actually need this level of health monitoring from for-profit wellness companies.
In my opinion, this all points to a sort of "medicalization" of everyday wellness. While access to health data can be empowering, it can also create anxiety and lead people to over-monitor aspects of their health that might not require constant attention. After all, blood biomarkers can fluctuate for many reasons, and abnormal results don't always indicate health problems.
Looking ahead
As this feature rolls out, anyone interested in Whoop's blood testing integration can still join the waitlist for Advanced Labs. Whether you'll actually want to know everything your blood appears to be telling you is another question entirely. Anecdotally, the company's existing user base already skews toward serious athletes and health optimization devotees—in other words, the sort of people who would be interested in comprehensive biomarker tracking. For now, I've strapped in to watch the lines between fitness tracker and medical device continue to blur.
from News https://ift.tt/SK2uJbn
via IFTTT
