JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Current statistics show there are more than 202 million people worldwide wearing smart watches. But your Fitbit and apple watch can do so much more than relay your messages, play music or track your steps. As Ivanhoe reports, your smart watch may be smarter than you think.
Whether it’s too fast or too slow …
When a heartbeat is off beat—it may mean trouble.
Matthew McKillop, MD, Electrophysiologist at Baptist Health in Jacksonville says, “Patients that develop atrial fibrillation can have pretty severe consequences, specifically as it relates to stroke.”
But, you may already be using one of the newest tools in the fight against a-fib: your smart watch!
Doctor McKillop explains, “Patients now have the ability of recording arrhythmias real time.”
A Stanford study of 400 thousand people found apple watches were able to correctly identify 84 percent of cases of a-fib. A smart watch also helps doctors monitor patients pre and post op.
Jeffrey DeClaire, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon, Founder, Michigan Knee Institute says, “Which will track step counts, stride length, heart rate, and a variety of other data points that we don’t normally track as a surgeon.”
Doctor Jeffrey DeClaire is part of an apple watch study that gives him daily real time data on his patients before and after knee replacements.
Denise Erhart says “A month before surgery, they started sending me educational information as well as exercises to do, and they track how you’re doing with your exercises.”
And diabetics like Sydnie Stephens-Boussard can monitor glucose levels without that dreaded pin prick blood test.
Stephens-Boussard explains, “So, when I’m going too high, my watch will ding. And then when I’m going too low it’ll also ding.”
And other studies suggest wearable devices might also be able to catch other illnesses like the common cold, the flu, even Lyme disease.
Doctor McKillop says “This is actually something that is in my own practice directly impacting care.”
Smart watches are also becoming popular to monitor elderly family members as most have detection technology that will call 911 if they take a fall. Now that the tech is being used, Doctor McKillop says more focus will need to be done on ways to make the health information secure and privacy compliant throughout the healthcare industry.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor and Videographer.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1314339/worldwide-users-of-smartwatches
https://www.nwpc.com/how-smartwatches-could-improve-your-health/
YOUR SMART WATCH IS SMARTER THAN YOU THINK
REPORT #3055
BACKGROUND: A smart watch is a wearable device that resembles a wristwatch. Other than telling time, many smart watches are Bluetooth-capable, where the watch becomes a wireless Bluetooth adaptor capable of extending the capabilities of the wearer’s smart phone to the watch. The wearer can use the watch’s interface to initiate and answer phone calls from their mobile phone, read email and text messages, get weather reports, listen to music, dictate email and text messages, and ask a digital assistant a question. Some smart watches are standalone devices with a specific purpose such as collecting data about the wearer’s health or monitoring the wearer’s heart rate. Others provide Global Positioning System (GPS) data, providing the wearer with walking or driving directions.
(Source: https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/smartwatch)
TYPES OF SMART WATCHES: There are several general-purpose smart watches that provide a collection of features. Some of these include the Apple Watch, which is Apple’s general-purpose smart watch. Wear OS watches are available from multiple vendors that design and sell watches using Google’s Wear operating system (OS). Tizen watches use Samsung’s proprietary smart watch OS. There are also several smart watch options available for specific uses, such as hiking and climbing. These watches are engineered for durability and are made to withstand drops, dust, and water. They also collect basic vital signs and can forecast the weather. Another use is diving. These waterproof watches provide divers with important indicators such as depth, time remaining, and temperature. Another use is aviation which is optimized for pilots. These watches have logbooks, GPS-powered maps, and weather tracking. Finally, there is visual assistance. Braille watches enable visually impaired users to tell time and receive notifications.
(Source: https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/smartwatch)
SMART WATCHES TO DETECT DISEASE: A study found an Apple Watch app that uses artificial intelligence may help detect left-ventricular dysfunction, a type of heart failure. Also being studied are smart watch features to detect blood sugar and blood pressure levels. Researchers are looking at wearable technology to help detect early signs of infection by detecting changes in heart rate and skin temperature, which increase when the body is fighting an infection. Some evidence has emerged that the technology could even detect changes that are early warning signs of diseases such as cancer. While research is ongoing, currently there remains a wide gap between having certain health data from a smart watch and knowing what to do with it. “We need experts at the table as the technology is being rolled out, so we can guide individuals and help them interpret the results,” says Stephanie Griggs, PhD, assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.
* For More Information, Contact: Wesley Roberts
Lisa Stafford
Lisa@Staffordcommunicationsinc.com
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