Study finds wrist temperature reflects underlying disease risk

[New Sancai Compilation First Release] Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found in a recent study that people’s wrist temperature seems to be related to disease risk. Perhaps in the future it will be possible to continuously monitor wrist skin temperature to find out whether the body contains potential disease risks.

The researcher said in a press release issued by the school that many people now wear smart digital watches on their hands, which are equipped with skin temperature sensors and other biometric information sensors. Therefore, doctors can use this information to detect potential risks of certain diseases and guide subjects to conduct further examinations and treatments or to provide preventive care in advance. The research was supported by the UK Biobank, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the American Heart Association.

According to the findings, continuously monitored wrist temperature appears to predict the status and risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, liver and kidneys. Current medical knowledge already knows that disordered body temperature rhythms are related to various diseases such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Researchers recruited more than 90,000 participants from the UK Biobank and had them wear wrist temperature sensors to monitor changes in their wrist temperature for seven days. They studied the changes in body temperature between day and night, as well as the number of awakenings and temperature status during sleep, the decrease in temperature during sleep, and the external effects of environmental conditions.

The findings suggest that daily peaks and minimums in the human wrist temperature curve may have important correlations with health status. The flatter these temperature changes are, the more likely there is a risk of chronic disease. The researchers found that more than 70 different diseases are related to the rhythm of body temperature reduction, and participants who had smaller differences in body temperature between day and night were at higher risk of developing these diseases in the future.

In their research results, it was found that people with this body temperature characteristic were about 22% more likely to develop pneumonia; about 23% more likely to develop high blood pressure; about 25% more likely to develop kidney failure; and about 25% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The risk is increased by about 70%; the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is about 90% higher.

The researchers put the research data on this website , and readers can refer to it online.

The lead author of the research report said that although the human body temperature rhythm is only one manifestation of human health, these research results tell people the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle habit, and regular and good sleep time and activity time are important living habits. .

The authors say that future research could be expanded using smartwatch measurements to include younger and more diverse participants. Other studies of temperature rhythms can also be conducted to delve deeper into the mysteries of human physiology.

In traditional Chinese medicine (also known as Han medicine), the doctor will diagnose the patient's physical condition by looking, smelling, asking, and cutting. The "cutting" action is to feel the pulse on the patient's wrist and press some parts of the body, and the action of taking the pulse is This includes identifying the patient's wrist temperature and using the characteristics of the wrist pulse to determine the patient's internal organs and body functions. In terms of medical technology, Chinese medicine seems to contain another level of medical theory!

(Compiled by: Mulian)

(Editor: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: First published by Xinsancai)