Cardiology

Activity trackers can be useful tools in managing diabetes

Researchers at The University of Manchester have conducted the largest ever review of the effect of movement-monitoring devices, such as pedometers, on the activity of individuals with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Health

Pedometer health boost lasts four years

Wearing a pedometer to count your daily steps can keep you healthier and more active for as long as four years after using it, a new study shows.

Health

Does a Fitbit make you more active?

My wife recently purchased a FitBit Alta activity tracker that she absolutely loves. She is constantly looking at the number of steps she's taken throughout the day, and rejoices like a child when she hits a milestone (i.e. ...

Health

Social media app motivates users to exercise for longer

A Facebook app aimed at encouraging exercise through peer group support and the use of pedometers has found participants in a pilot trial increase their physical activity by almost three hours a week.

Parkinson's & Movement disorders

Virtual coach helps Parkinson's patients stick with exercise

New research from Terry Ellis, assistant professor at Sargent College and Director of the Center for Neurorehabilitation, has found that a virtual exercise coach was effective in helping individuals with Parkinson's disease ...

Cardiology

Patient reports via telemedicine result in lower blood pressure

Using a telemedicine system to engage people in underserved, urban communities to measure and report their blood pressure remotely—outside of the doctor's office—appears to help them achieve blood pressure goals and improve ...

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Pedometer

A pedometer is a device, usually portable and electronic or electromechanical, that counts each step a person takes by detecting the motion of the person's hips. Because the distance of each person's step varies, an informal calibration, performed by the user, is required if presentation of the distance covered in a unit of length (such as in kilometres or miles) is desired.

Used originally by sports and physical fitness enthusiasts, pedometers are now becoming popular as an everyday exercise measurer and motivator. Often worn on the belt and kept on all day, it can record how many steps the wearer has walked that day, and thus the kilometres or miles (distance = number of steps × step length). Some pedometers will also erroneously record movements other than walking, such as bending to tie one's shoes, or road bumps incurred while riding a vehicle, though the most advanced devices record fewer of these 'false steps'. Step counters can give encouragement to compete with oneself in getting fit and losing weight. A total of 10,000 steps per day, equivalent to 5 miles (8.0 km), is recommended by some to be the benchmark for an active lifestyle, although this point is debated among experts. Step counters are being integrated into an increasing number of portable consumer electronic devices such as music players and mobile phones.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA