Thanks to the combination of its optical heart rate sensor and health app, an Apple Watch surprisingly has warned a UK man of his potential condition.
Nothing Out Of The Ordinary
In a surprising turn of events, a man's smartwatch warns him that something might be wrong with his heart. Kevin Pearson, a 52-year-old from Cockermouth in the north of England, was reportedly just relaxing and reading a book until an alert from his wearable kept begging for his attention.
According to the owner, the device kept telling him that his resting heart rate was going up as high as 161 bpm. Health experts explain that the value is actually higher than what athletes experience during their workouts.
Regardless of what the readings implied, Pearson did not feel anything out of the ordinary, yet he followed the instructions given out by the application to sit down and monitor his heart rate for the next few minutes. The biometric sensor kept recording values ranging between highs of 135 and lows of 79 beats per minute.
As Luck Would Have It
Pearson claims that the first thing that came to his mind was that the Apple Watch could be defective and that the readings were inaccurate. It was fortunate that he was already at a hospital since he took his father there for an appointment. He then requested doctors to perform an evaluation of his cardiac health and got the results right after.
"I've used my Apple Watch for calendar events, to complete its targets by exercising, and using it to lose weight," explained Pearson. "The heart rate wasn't really of any particular value, and I didn't even know it could alert you if it was too high," he said.
It was discovered that he was suffering from atrial fibrillation and was immediately instructed to visit another hospital to have specialists monitor his condition. After another round of tests, the doctors confirmed that it was indeed the diagnosis.
The owner believes that his wearable was a potential lifesaver that made him aware of his condition. He was so relieved that he wrote a letter to Tim Cook, Apple CEO, to thank him.
Questionable Accuracy
Like most fitness wearables with optical heart rate sensors, the accuracy of the Apple Watch's readings might be unreliable. Even though the data collected by its sensors can give users a quick overview of their health, owners should still take the time and request a yearly checkup from their healthcare providers.
