William Gallagher
British author Adam Croft says he woke to find his Apple Watch had been repeatedly alerting him about his undiagnosed undiagnosed atrial fibrillation.
The Apple Watch's heart rate sensors have repeatedly been saving lives from Arizona and around the world since it was introduced in 2018.
Now according to BBC News, self-published thriller author Adam Croft says he had ignored dizziness before going to bed.. He'd "felt a bit dizzy" during the evening, and then at one stage "felt the world closing in."
"Being a man I thought not much of it and took myself up to bed," the Bedfordshire-based man told the BBC.
In the morning, he awoke to find that his Apple Watch had sent him notifications every couple of hours, each alert saying he should seek medical advice over atrial fibrillation.
Croft rang 111, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) number for medical enquiries. That number is similar to the country's emergency 999 or the US 911, but is generally used for less serious issues.
"I called 111," he said, "who said get to hospital within the hour."
Bedford Hospital performed two ECGs and confirmed the author has atrial fibrillation. Croft has been put on medication to thin his blood, and will receive a cardioversion procedure which uses quick shocks to restore a regular heart rhythm.
"It is something that will get worse and will happen more and more over time," he said, "so it's a case of keeping my stress levels down and looking after myself."
"The watch will be staying on now," he concluded.
Aside from the atrial fibrillation detection, Apple Watch has a series of health features that are particularly good for users who need to stay healthy while working from home.
AppleInsider Staff
Malcolm Owen
Oliver Haslam
Andrew O'Hara
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
11 Comments
That author better be building a small shrine to the Apple Watch around its charging base.
It came through... and did what it was supposed to do: help to save a life.
Bravo!
"British author Adam Croft says he woke to find his Apple Watch had been repeatedly alerting him about his undiagnosed undiagnosed atrial fibrillation."
OMG, he had it doubly undiagnosed? 😳
I wish the watch better read my heart at all times, many times I have had a confused mass instead of actual rhythm. The first time I went to the hospital thinking I must be having a heart attack but I have since noticed that I get this reading all the time. I usually notice something going on with my heart and then try to see it on the watch, I'll get "Poor Recording", but I am using the exact same hold that I use when it gives me a perfect "Sinus Rhythm" reading so it's not very useful.
They did put me on blood thinners as those with Afib are 5x more likely to have a stroke or heart attack. I noticed my hands get injured all the time from the smallest use on blood thinners so there is also heart surgery for seniors (sadly I'm too young) they can do that will close off a small portion of the heart that blood pools in and can coagulate in and then get stuck in your brain or elsewhere. That surgery lets you go off the blood thinners.
Do most Apple Watch users sleep with it on? I thought people charge their watches at bedtime?