The owner of an Apple Watch can thank the heart health monitoring functions of their connected watch. Thanks to them, this user was able to discover the existence of a serious heart problem.
As you know, Apple Watches have been tracking your heart health levels for years. It is more precisely about your VO² Max valuethe maximum amount of oxygen consumed by your body during physical exercise. It is a reliable indicator of your overall health.
When your cardiovascular health level is abnormally low for your age and gender, the Apple Smartwatch will automatically send you several notifications. However, as reported by researchers from the Shackler School of Medicine in Tel Aviv and the Leviev Heart Center in Israel, this feature may help some patients detect serious cardiac pathologies.
Indeed, this is what happened to a 40-year-old user. Without any particular health problems, this man started receiving regular notifications from his Apple Watch Series 6 after detecting at repeated abnormally low VO² Max levels. Worried by these multiple notifications, the man decided to consult for a medical opinion. A series of tests revealed the presence of a “hereditary non-ischemic cardiomyopathy with severely reduced left ventricular systolic function”.
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The Apple Watch allows him to discover a serious cardiac pathology
Simply put, this pathology occurs when the heart muscles thin and weaken in at least one chamber of the heart, causing the open area of the chamber to widen. Result, the heart cannot pump blood as efficiently. To compensate, the heart mechanically increases the amount of blood pumped. In the long term, this condition can lead to early fatigue of the heart muscle and therefore insufficiency.
Apple Watch Played Here, Researchers Say a major role in the diagnosis and detection of this heart problem. For them, this story highlights “the potential utility of measurements of VO² Max levels by wearable devices for the early identification and screening of cardiac fitness in the general population”. Nevertheless, and as Apple reminds us on its site, the VO² Max tracking capabilities of the Apple Watch are indicative, the results may be distorted in certain situations. “Certain treatments and medical conditions that limit your heart rate can cause your VO² Max to be overestimated.” warns the apple brand.
Source: 9To5Mac