Roundup: Smartphone Apps, Fitness Trackers are Helping Those with Heart Disease Increase Activity; and More News

New Research: Smartphone Apps, Fitness Trackers May Help People With Heart Disease Become More Active

People living with heart disease may be able to increase their daily physical activity with the help of smartphone apps, fitness trackers and other wearable devices, according to a new review of research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers analyzed data from 14 clinical trials involving more than 1,000 people with cardiovascular disease, a broad term that includes conditions such as coronary artery disease, heart failure, heart attack and stroke. The findings suggest that digital health tools can help motivate people to move more in their everyday lives.

Digital Tools Linked to More Daily Activity

Compared with participants who did not use these technologies, people who used smartphone apps or wearable devices walked nearly 1,100 more steps per day. They also spent about four additional minutes each day doing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. This type of activity includes exercise or movement that noticeably raises the heart rate and breathing, such as brisk walking, cycling or other aerobic activities.

Physical activity is an important part of managing heart disease because it can help reduce the risk of future cardiovascular events. However, many people face challenges participating in traditional cardiac rehabilitation programs. Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program that combines exercise, education and counseling to help people recover from heart-related conditions. Barriers such as travel distance, time commitments and cost can make these programs difficult to access.

“These devices are not just gadgets,” states Ramin Zand, M.D., M.P.H., the study’s senior author and a professor of neurology and public health at Penn State College of Medicine, in a news release. “When included in a treatment plan, they can support routine care and help patients take small yet important steps toward better cardiovascular health.”

How Apps and Wearables May Help

The researchers noted that smartphone apps and wearable devices may help fill some of these gaps. Many of the tools used in the studies allowed participants to set daily step goals, receive reminders, track progress, and get feedback about their activity levels. Some programs also included coaching, rewards, quizzes and goal reviews to help motivate users and encourage healthy habits.

Experts say these technologies can support people between medical appointments by helping them monitor their activity and stay engaged with their health goals. Because smartphones and wearable devices are already widely available, they may offer a practical and relatively low-cost way to reach more patients.

More Research Needed on Long-Term Benefits

While the results are encouraging, the study also found limitations. The increased activity did not translate into significant improvements in measures of physical fitness, such as peak oxygen consumption, which reflects how efficiently the body uses oxygen during exercise, or walking distance during fitness testing. Researchers said longer-term studies are needed to determine whether the increases in activity can be maintained and whether they ultimately improve long-term health outcomes.

Previous research has shown that fewer than one-third of people with cardiovascular disease achieve recommended levels of physical activity. Even modest increases in movement can provide health benefits, and evidence suggests that reaching about 7,000 steps per day is associated with a lower risk of death.

Although wearable devices and smartphone apps are not a replacement for medical care, this review suggests they may be a useful tool to help people with heart disease become more active and take small but meaningful steps toward better cardiovascular health.

For Those with Pre-Diabetes, Lifestyle Changes Show Lasting Power to Prevent Multiple Chronic Diseases, Large Study Finds

A decades-long study of adults with pre-diabetes, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has found that simple lifestyle changes — like eating healthier and exercising more — can significantly lower the risk of developing several chronic health conditions at once, a problem doctors call "multimorbidity." The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Multimorbidity means having two or more long-term health conditions simultaneously, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis, or depression. It's an increasingly common issue as people age, but few strategies have proven effective at preventing it.

What the Study Found

Researchers followed 1,173 adults with prediabetes (a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes) for more than 20 years. Participants were divided into three groups: one received an intensive lifestyle coaching program, one took metformin (a common diabetes medication), and one received a placebo (an inactive substitute, like a sugar pill).

The lifestyle program focused on helping people lose weight by reducing calorie and fat intake and getting at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week—roughly 30 minutes, five days a week. Participants initially attended 16 individual coaching sessions, followed by ongoing group sessions over the years to help maintain their progress.

By the end of the study, the vast majority of participants , or 85 percent, had developed two or more chronic conditions. However, those in the lifestyle group fared notably better: they had a 21 percent lower risk of developing two chronic conditions and a 25 percent lower risk of developing three, compared to those who received the placebo.

Interestingly, metformin did not show a similar benefit. While the medication is known to help prevent diabetes, it did not significantly reduce participants' risk of developing multiple chronic conditions overall.

The 15 conditions tracked in the study included common age-related issues such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, chronic kidney disease, lung disease (COPD), cancer, depression, dementia, and osteoporosis. Notably, the protective effect of the lifestyle program held up even when diabetes itself was excluded from the analysis—meaning the benefits extended well beyond blood sugar control.

Why It Matters

"Multimorbidity is a common issue, and few interventions have been found to prevent or delay developing multiple chronic conditions," said Marcel Salive, M.D., of the NIH's National Institute on Aging, the study's lead author, in a news release. He called the findings "a step forward" in tackling this widespread problem.

Griffin Rodgers, M.D., director of the NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, states in a news release that because lifestyle changes are both safe and relatively low-cost, encouraging healthy habits among people at risk of diabetes could ease not just individual health burdens, but also overall healthcare costs.

For people with prediabetes, adopting modest, sustained changes to diet and exercise habits may offer protection against a wide range of chronic illnesses—not just diabetes—for decades to come, the researchers concluded.

Updated COVID-19 Vaccine Linked to Lower Risk of Serious Heart Problems in Older Adults

A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine may do more than help prevent severe COVID-19 illness. Researchers found that vaccination was associated with a lower risk of serious cardiovascular complications, particularly among older adults and people with underlying health conditions.

The study analyzed health records from more than 1 million U.S. veterans who received a seasonal flu vaccine between September and December 2024. Researchers compared people who received both the flu and COVID-19 vaccines on the same day with those who received only the flu vaccine.

Lower Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke, and Other Major Cardiac Events

Researchers focused on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), a medical term that includes serious conditions such as heart attack, stroke, heart failure requiring hospitalization, or cardiovascular-related death.

After eight months of follow-up, people who received the updated COVID-19 vaccine had a 38 percent lower risk of COVID-19-associated major cardiovascular events compared with those who did not receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine was also associated with fewer hospitalizations and deaths overall.

The greatest benefit was seen in adults age 75 and older. In this group, vaccination was associated with a 51 percent reduction in COVID-19-related major cardiovascular events. Researchers also found larger benefits among people with chronic health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and lung disease.

Why COVID-19 Can Affect the Heart

COVID-19 is primarily known as a respiratory illness, but previous research has shown that infection can also increase the risk of cardiovascular problems. Inflammation caused by the virus can affect blood vessels and increase the likelihood of blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, and worsening heart failure.

The authors note that reducing the severity of COVID-19 infection may also reduce these cardiovascular complications. This may explain why vaccinated individuals experienced fewer heart-related events during the study period.

Findings Suggest Benefits Beyond Preventing Infection

One of the study’s more notable findings was a reduction in “all-cause major cardiovascular events,” meaning heart-related events regardless of whether COVID-19 was formally diagnosed. Researchers observed a substantially larger reduction in these outcomes than in COVID-19-associated events alone.

The study’s authors suggest this may reflect the impact of undetected COVID-19 infections, which can still contribute to cardiovascular complications. In other words, vaccination may help reduce heart-related risks even when a COVID-19 infection is not recognized or officially recorded.

While the study was observational and cannot prove cause and effect, the findings add to growing evidence that COVID-19 vaccination may provide benefits beyond preventing severe respiratory illness. The researchers concluded that the 2024–2025 vaccine was associated with lower cardiovascular risk, especially among older adults and those with existing health conditions.