Apple win: The FDA just named the Apple Watch an official “medical device development tool” for its atrial fibrillation tracker. This means Apple Watches will soon collect data in clinical studies. It’s the first digital health device to achieve that status. Super cool.
5 hidden health indicators to watch on your iPhone and Apple Watch
A 67-year-old woman in Maine was receiving warnings from her Apple Watch that her heart was in atrial fibrillation. After three nights of warnings, she went to the emergency room and doctors found a tumor in her heart. Here’s what happened next.
Irregular rhythm notifications are just one of the health features built into Apple devices that could monitor your health and save your life. Here are five hidden health indicators to watch on your iPhone and Apple Watch.
1. Steadiness
When carrying your iPhone in a pocket, the Health app uses custom algorithms to assess your balance, strength and gait. You’ll receive a notification if your level of steadiness drops.
Here’s how to set up Steadiness Notifications:
- Open the Health app and tap your profile at the top right. If you don’t see your picture or initials, tap Summary or Browse at the bottom of the screen, then scroll to the top of the screen.
- Tap Health Checklist.
- Tap Set Up for Walking Steadiness Notifications and follow the onscreen instructions.
2. Heart rate variability
Heart rate variability, or HRV, measures time intervals between heartbeats when you’re at rest. Your Apple Watch checks for irregular rhythms, sends you a notification and records the data in the Health app.
Irregular rhythms could indicate atrial fibrillation (Afib), where the heart’s upper chambers beat out of sync with the lower chambers.
Here’s how to check up on your HRV data:
- Open the Health app on your iPhone.
- Tap Browse in the bottom right corner.
- Tap Heart > Heart Rate Variability.
- At the top, choose to view your data by day, week, month, half-year and year.
Here’s how to enable irregular rhythm notifications:
An Apple Watch detected a tumor and saved her life — here’s how it can do the same for you
Apple Watch is among the bestselling smartwatches in the world, and for good reason. As a health tracker and communication tool, it changed how we look at watches. But this ingenious little gadget is capable of so much more.