People who had access to the Internet scored higher on measures of life satisfaction in a global survey.Credit: Ute Grabowsky/Photothek via Getty
A global, 16-year study1 of 2.4 million people has found that Internet use might boost measures of well-being, such as life satisfaction and sense of purpose — challenging the commonly held idea that Internet use has negative effects on people’s welfare.
US TikTok ban: how the looming restriction is affecting scientists on the app
“It’s an important piece of the puzzle on digital-media use and mental health,” says psychologist Markus Appel at the University of Würzburg in Germany. “If social media and Internet and mobile-phone use is really such a devastating force in our society, we should see it on this bird’s-eye view [study] — but we don’t.” Such concerns are typically related to behaviours linked to social-media use, such as cyberbullying, social-media addiction and body-image issues. But the best studies have so far shown small negative effects, if any2,3, of Internet use on well-being, says Appel.
The authors of the latest study, published on 13 May in Technology, Mind and Behaviour, sought to capture a more global picture of the Internet’s effects than did previous research. “While the Internet is global, the study of it is not,” said Andrew Przybylski, a researcher at the University of Oxford, UK, who studies how technology affects well-being, in a press briefing on 9 May. “More than 90% of data sets come from a handful of English-speaking countries” that are mostly in the global north, he said. Previous studies have also focused on young people, he added.
To address this research gap, Pryzbylski and his colleagues analysed data on how Internet access was related to eight measures of well-being from the Gallup World Poll, conducted by analytics company Gallup, based in Washington DC. The data were collected annually from 2006 to 2021 from 1,000 people, aged 15 and above, in 168 countries, through phone or in-person interviews. The researchers controlled for factors that might affect Internet use and welfare, including income level, employment status, education level and health problems.
Like a walk in nature
The team found that, on average, people who had access to the Internet scored 8% higher on measures of life satisfaction, positive experiences and contentment with their social life, compared with people who lacked web access. Online activities can help people to learn new things and make friends, and this could contribute to the beneficial effects, suggests Appel.
The positive effect is similar to the well-being benefit associated with taking a walk in nature, says Przybylski.
However, women aged 15–24 who reported having used the Internet in the past week were, on average, less happy with the place they live, compared with people who didn’t use the web. This could be because people who do not feel welcome in their community spend more time online, said Przybylski. Further studies are needed to determine whether links between Internet use and well-being are causal or merely associations, he added.
The study comes at a time of discussion around the regulation of Internet and social-media use, especially among young people. “The study cannot contribute to the recent debate on whether or not social-media use is harmful, or whether or not smartphones should be banned at schools,” because the study was not designed to answer these questions, says Tobias Dienlin, who studies how social media affects well-being at the University of Vienna. “Different channels and uses of the Internet have vastly different effects on well-being outcomes,” he says.
Google introduced the Digital Wellbeing feature in Android to improve people’s screen usage habits. It can help them limit their screen time by changing settings things like screen brightness and colors, notifications, and ring modes. However, only the Digital Wellbeing app can change screen settings, but that could change soon.
Android 15 opens up Digital Wellbeing to third-party apps
According to a new report from Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman, Google will allow third-party apps to control screen settings via Digital Wellbeing integration. With Android 15, there is a new public API (ZenDeviceEffects API) that third-party app developers can use to control the screen options managed by Google’s Digital Wellbeing app. These options include Always On Display, Minimize Color Saturation (Grayscale), Night Mode (Dark Mode), Suppressing Ambient Display, and Wallpaper Dimming.
One of the best automation apps available on Android, Tasker, has already implemented this new API. You can use it to create advanced Bedtime Mode routines. For example, you can trigger Bedtime Mode routines by tapping an NFC tag beside your bed. Maybe Samsung will integrate those APIs into its Modes & Routines app.
Google introduced this new API with Android 15 Developer Preview 2. The company may add even more screen options (like Adaptive Brightness and Tap To Wake) or tweak it before releasing the stable version of Android 15 in the next few months. Samsung has already started developing the One UI 7.0 update internally, and it would be great if Modes & Routines and SmartThings apps got some integration options with Digital Wellbeing.
If you’re like me, you might never have heard of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) until the last few months, if at all. However, if your online presence has found its way on to any health or wellness algorithms, you’ve almost certainly encountered at least one or two advertisements or endorsements for the technology.
That’s because these smart glucose sensors are being touted by manufacturers and lifestyle brands as the key to unlocking and improving metabolic health, despite having been invented primarily to provide diabetes patients with real-time glucose readings.
Graph showing the worldwide search interest for CGMs increasing over the last year (Source: Google) (Image credit: Future / Canva)
But what is metabolic health, and does the information generated by these devices provide any insight that can provably help non-diabetic users? These are the questions I sought to answer when I began my journey trialing CGMs this year.
So, in addition to testing out Lingo by Abbott and the Zoe diet, I’ve spoken with nutritionists, diabetes experts and CGM gurus to find out what all the fuss is about.
What is a CGM, and who’s it for?
CGMs pack some pretty fascinating technology. Once applied, they look pretty nondescript; just a white disc stuck onto your arm and rarely larger than 1.4-inches / 3.5cm in diameter. Under the hood, however, there’s a lot going on.
CGMs insert a subcutaneous (under the skin at the layer closest to your muscle) sensor, using an algorithm to estimate blood glucose concentration based on the levels they find in the interstitial fluid (found in the spaces between cells). They do it in almost real-time, with a delay of just 15-30 minutes depending on the sensor. This data is then transmitted to a companion app and translated into a glucose reading to show how your body responds to recently eaten foods.
I spoke with Dr. Mark J. O’Connor, Assistant Professor of Medicine and practicing endocrinologist, to learn more about how these devices are used in a clinical setting.
Dr. O’Connor is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a practicing endocrinologist at UMass Memorial Health Care System, particularly in the UMass Diabetes Center of Excellence. He’s also conducted a small research study on the utility of using CGMs to help diabetes patients in emergency departments.
He explains: “A CGM is a useful tool for people with diabetes, because it gives them a lot more insight into their blood sugar levels, and it gives us as healthcare providers more insight so that we can make the best recommendations.
“It also helps people make better decisions about exercise, food, and other factors that affect blood sugar levels. For many people with diabetes, it’s a Godsend.”
The technology has come a long way since 1999, when it gained Food and Drug Association approval for clinical use in the US. Abbott, one of three US companies manufacturing the majority of CGMs worldwide, is one of the first to take its technology into the consumer space; its consumer offering, Lingo, arrived in the UK in January, and pending FDA clearance is set to be released in the US later this year.
I spoke with Olivier Ropars, Division VP of Lingo Biowearables, about the company’s expansion into direct-to-consumer CGMs.
Olivier Ropars
Ropars joined Abbott in 2022 to run Lingo, Abbott’s consumer Biowearables division, where he is currently overseeing the growth of the product as it comes to market in various regions. He previously held positions at eBay, StubHub and McKinsey.
The key benefit to direct-to-consumer CGMs, says Ropars, lies in understanding your metabolic health – which, broadly speaking, is the absence of metabolic disorders, including conditions such as type 1 diabetes, obesity, and inflammatory bowel diseases. They can also be vital tools in measuring the long-term effects of hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) and hyperglycemia (high glucose levels).
As Ropar explains, a series of studies conducted by Abbott employees and consultants found post-meal glucose spikes correlate to sleep and mental health difficulties and increased hunger. More worryingly, they were also associated with the development of type 2 diabetes and an “increased risk of seven out of the 10 leading causes of death in the US; that’s expected to be the same in the UK.” These include cardiovascular disease, liver failure, kidney failure, and increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Dragoljub Bankovic)
CGMs: Fad or fact
“The current healthcare system is entirely focused on curing diseases or trying to catch diseases early. There’s very little focus on disease prevention,” says Ropars, citing findings that health trackers such as pedometers have an “overwhelmingly positive” impact on people’s lifestyles. CGMs, he argues, will have the same effect.
Ropars says three groups of people have been particularly receptive to Lingo. The first is people, particularly athletes, looking to optimize their health and performance. These bio-hackers are a core demographic across many CGM offerings; the recently shuttered Supersapiens CGM-based platform (which also used Abbott sensors) enticed users with the promise they’d “never bonk again”, referring to the exercise-induced hypoglycemia endurance athletes can experience when they haven’t eaten enough carbohydrates. Indeed, early studies have shown CGMs might be useful for athletes in determining ideal carbohydrate intake – but as of yet, this isn’t proven.
The second and third groups are more general; people wanting to resolve age- or health-related issues who haven’t seen success in one-size-fits-all solutions; and those with a family history of disease wanting to monitor health and take preventative measures.
Many brands, such as Zoe in the UK and Super Sapiens in the US use Abbott’s CGMs paired with their own proprietary platforms for data analysis and lifestyle guidance. (Image credit: Shutterstock / Jeniffer Fontan)
O’Connor can likewise see the benefits: “To me, it does make sense that giving people access to more information would be helpful. To see the effect on your blood sugar of routine exercise or a healthy diet is positive reinforcement to continue to make healthy behavioral changes.” A small study funded by Dexcom, another major CGM manufacturer, supports this, seeing a small group of people generally improve their lifestyle after using a CGM.
Lauren Johnson Reynolds, AKA the London Wellness Coach, is a homeopath, nutritionist, and health coach with a special interest in hormone balance following her own experience with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Early studies have shown a correlation between glucose tolerance, diabetes, and PCOS, which is why Reynolds tried out CGMs after giving birth led her HBA1-C to elevate to a near pre-diabetic range.
“There were certain foods and combinations that I felt wouldn’t cause any issues, but were spiking my blood sugar quite badly,” she says. “It was very eye-opening, and I became very aware of how stress impacted my blood sugar.”
Lauren Johnson Reynolds
Following a series of health difficulties relating to stress and PCOS, Reynolds turned to homeopathic solutions to relieve her symptoms, beginning a journey of healing and self-understanding that culminated in her studying an integrated Homeopathy and Nutritional therapy course. Now, she shares her knowledge, passion and holistic approach to wellness as a health coach.
A double-edged needle
While there’s plenty of buzz around the potential for CGMs, there’s perhaps not significant enough proof to convince some practitioners. Katherine Metzelaar, MSN, RDN, CD, founder and CEO of Bravespace Nutrition, is one of many concerned parties. “There’s this general desire to want to know what’s going on inside of our bodies – but it’s not as simple as that.
“We have yet to hear about any positive impacts of continuous glucose monitoring outside of the management of diabetes, and I think they cause more harm than good.”
Katherine Metzelaar, MSN, RDN, CD
Passionate about helping people battling disordered eating, Katherine Metzelaar’s approach is to help cultivate a positive food and body relationship by creating a weight-inclusive space and educating clients on the impacts of diet culture. Her specialism is in eating disorder recovery, body image concerns, and weight-inclusive nutrition therapy, which she practices using the HAES (health at every size) approach.
Metzelaar specializes in disordered eating and food positivity, and fears CGMs are another chapter in a legacy of illusory diet and wellness fads that contribute to an ineffective approach to health.
“It could lead to oversimplifying nutrition, increased stress and anxiety around food, and unnecessary restriction or inaccurate and inadequate advice around what to do with that information,” she says. “My recommendation is usually not to do it. Even for clients I work with that have diabetes, it leads to them feeling anxious when they see their glucose spike.”
She’s also broadly unconvinced by the usefulness of the data provided, especially the difficulty in parsing what specifically might have elevated glucose levels when eating different foods.
Despite her own positive experience, Reynolds has similar concerns about the broader use of CGMs. “I recommend them to a few clients but not the majority… When you step back and look at it, it’s quite extreme, but we’re so used to monitoring our sleep and our recovery, it’s become very normalized.”
Lingo by Abbott provides real-time insight into blood glucose levels, presenting spikes as “Lingo counts” and encouraging users to stay below a target each day. The target is based on your health data; factors such as age, gender and weight. (Image credit: Future)
“Modern society has lost track of hunger signals and thirst signals. We’re told to drink eight glasses of water a day and eat three meals and two snacks, and so that’s what we do. It’s taking away from that mind-body connection. So, although I think they are extremely useful for people who have blood-sugar issues, have a condition like PCOS, or want to try CGMs for a short amount of time, for the average person I don’t think it’s necessary.”
Metzelaar also has concerns about the self-led nature of many CGM platforms. “To my understanding, there’s no oversight from a doctor or a dietitian to interpret that information and add clarity to it.” This, she says, could lead users to change their behaviors based on what could simply be the normal curve of what happens during digestion.
I tried two different CGMs as part of my research for this article; Zoe Health and Lingo. While I don’t have any metabolic health diagnoses, I’ve had a lot of digestive and stress-related issues in recent months – but for me, this technology is still perhaps a little extreme. (Image credit: Future)
Knowledge is power – until it’s not
As of right now, there are numerous consumer-based studies underway, including large-scale efforts being conducted by CGM platforms including Levels and Signos. In the UK, Zoe Health combines gut microbiome, blood sample, and bowel movement data with its CGM readings, the results of which can be discussed with a Zoe nutritionist. Clearly, there’s plenty of confidence from these providers that there’s something in this CGM craze worth fighting for.
That’s certainly the resounding take of Ropars, who says we’re only just beginning to unlock the potential of CGMs: “It’s not like buying a diet book; that may not work for everyone. A CGM provides personalized information, so you can make the adjustments that matter the most for you.”
So, are CGMs a fad or the future of wellbeing? As of right now, they don’t definitively support non-diabetics to improve their lifestyle, nor can studies fully demonstrate the biomarkers they track have a measurable impact on long-term health and wellbeing.
Still, the appetite for the technology and the research being conducted into metabolic health, blood glucose, and the relationship with long-term health means, for better or worse, we’re likely going to be seeing a lot more about CGMs in the coming years.
Your health and well-being should always be a top priority. When seeking medical care, choosing a medical centre can significantly impact the quality of care you receive. If you’re in Cranbourne or its surrounding areas, you’re in luck, as there are several medical centres to choose from.
However, making the right decision can be daunting. This blog post aims to provide valuable tips to help you prioritise your well-being when selecting a medical centre Cranbourne.
Location and Accessibility
One of the first considerations when choosing a medical centre is its location and accessibility. Opt for a conveniently located centre, ensuring that it’s easy for you to reach in case of emergencies or for regular appointments. Proximity to your home or workplace can significantly impact your overall experience with the medical centre.
Reputation and Reviews
Research the reputation of the medical centres you’re considering. Online reviews and recommendations from friends and family can be invaluable in assessing the quality of care provided. Look for testimonials and reviews highlighting positive experiences, caring staff, and successful treatments. A good reputation is a strong indicator of the centre’s commitment to patient well-being.
Range of Services
Different medical centres may offer various services, so matching your healthcare needs with their services is crucial. Consider whether you need a general practitioner, specialists, or a combination of both. A well-rounded medical centre with a broad range of services can provide comprehensive care for you and your family.
Quality of Medical Staff
The competence and expertise of the medical staff are paramount when choosing a medical centre. Research the qualifications and experience of the centre’s doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. It’s also good to inquire about their approach to patient care and commitment to staying up-to-date with the latest medical advancements.
Facilities and Equipment
The quality and availability of medical facilities and equipment can significantly affect your treatment and diagnosis. Ensure that your medical centre is well-equipped with modern technologies and facilities. This can lead to more accurate diagnoses and more effective treatments. Cutting-edge equipment, such as digital imaging and diagnostic tools, can significantly impact your healthcare experience.
Appointment Scheduling and Wait Times
Consider the ease of scheduling appointments and the typical wait times at the medical centre. Prompt access to healthcare services is crucial for your well-being. A medical centre that offers online appointment booking and manages its schedule efficiently can save you time and reduce stress. Shorter wait times also contribute to a more positive patient experience.
Insurance and Payment Options
Check whether the medical centre accepts your health insurance plan. Understanding your coverage and payment options can help you plan for healthcare expenses effectively. A medical centre that works with your insurance provider can make the financial aspect of healthcare more manageable. Additionally, inquire about any available discounts or payment plans if facing financial constraints.
Cleanliness and Hygiene
Cleanliness and hygiene are vital in a medical setting. Pay attention to the cleanliness of the waiting areas, examination rooms, and facilities. A clean and well-maintained medical center is more pleasant and reduces the risk of infections and complications. Inquire about their infection control measures and protocols, especially concerning recent health concerns.
Patient-Centered Care
A medical centre that prioritises patient-centred care is more likely to provide you with a positive healthcare experience. Look for a centre where the staff takes the time to listen to your concerns, explains treatment options, and involves you in the decision-making process. Compassionate and attentive care can significantly impact your well-being. Consider asking for referrals or seeking feedback from current patients to gauge the level of patient-centred care provided.
Emergency Care
Consider whether the medical centre offers emergency services or has affiliations with nearby hospitals. In unexpected medical emergencies, quick access to emergency care can be a lifesaver. A well-equipped medical centre that can handle emergencies can provide peace of mind, knowing you’ll receive prompt care when needed.
Conclusion
Choosing the right medical centre in Cranbourne is vital in prioritising your well-being and that of your loved ones. Take the time to research and evaluate your options based on location, reputation, services, quality of staff, facilities, and patient-centred care. By following these tips and making an informed decision, you can ensure that you receive the high-quality healthcare you deserve, contributing to your overall well-being and peace of mind. Remember, your health is your greatest asset, so choose wisely regarding your medical care. Prioritising your well-being through carefully selecting a medical centre is an investment in your long-term health and happiness.
