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The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

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Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#71

Post by curun1r »

ryan-allen wrote: post #45
benevol wrote: post #44

It's quite interesting - the way we have evolved as a society has completely broken the link between "us and our body". We have stopped listening to it a long time ago. If we really listened to our bodies, we wouldn't eat/drink/consume stuff we don't need, we wouldn't be overweight, and we'd rapidly be aware of any health-related imbalance which needs restoring. But no, we forget our original (and free-of-charge) way…

Hypertension presents no symptoms and left undiagnosed can lead to kidney failure. It's often referred to by doctors as 'the silent killer', and you don't need to eat like shit and be fat to have it. Going to your GP 2-3 times a year and getting your blood pressure checked (and your blood tested for the 'regular stuff') solves the problem. 'Listening to your body' pseudoscience doesn't really solve the problem.

Meditation isn't "listening to your body" BS, it's a discipline that needs to be taught and practiced and developed as a skill. You can't just sit, close your eyes and try it on your own. And there are actual studies [1][2] that show the benefits (particularly related to stress and blood pressure), so not exactly pseudoscience either. It isn't particularly difficult to learn to recognize the feeling of different blood pressures in the body during meditation and develop some measure of conscious control over it.

GP is absolutely right that we're a society that has taught ourselves to tune out important signals from the body. If we can unlearn that and better attune ourselves to the relevant sensations in the body, we'd be a lot healthier.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19798037

[2] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/11/meditations-p...

Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#72

Post by downandout »

ArnoVanLumig wrote: post #61
downandout wrote: post #34

I'm skeptical about the accuracy of applications like this running on Apple Watch. I bought the Apple Watch Series 3 precisely because of articles like this. I now routinely get messages about how I've achieved my standing goal - while lying in bed watching TV or working on my laptop. If it can't accurately tell whether you're lying down or standing, it is unimaginable to me that it could be remotely accurate in dete…

You get the message that you achieved your standing goal right after the hour in which you achieved it. So it's entirely possible that you stood at 22:10, went to bed at 22:30, and get the achievement message at 23:00.

That's certainly possible, though I have noticed more quirky behavior than just this - the stand goal was just the most amusing one to me and that is why I posted that particular one here. I sometimes meet the exercise goal on a very sedentary day, while I don't meet it when I vigorously exercise, etc. I have a two story house and I climb and descend the steps probably 15+ times per day, yet for the current week, it shows that I have climbed 4 flights of steps. Then other days it seems like it's right on the mark. It just seems to be all over the place.

Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#73

Post by smnscu »

The only downside to the Apple Watch in my book is the short battery life which should theoretically make it impractical for sleep tracking.

I was recently stupefied to discover Nokia Steel [1] and how virtually unknown it is to the general public, my former self included. It comes with great design, no bullshit digital screen, the usual tracking features, and most importantly seems like it's a return to form for Nokia, considering their country's outstanding design heritage.

edit: lol I forgot to mention the best part. THE BATTERY LASTS EIGHT MONTHS

1: https://health.nokia.com/es/en/steel

Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#74

Post by nezza-_- »

smnscu wrote: post #73

The only downside to the Apple Watch in my book is the short battery life which should theoretically make it impractical for sleep tracking. I was recently stupefied to discover Nokia Steel [1] and how virtually unknown it is to the general public, my former self included. It comes with great design, no bullshit digital screen, the usual tracking features, and most importantly seems like it's a return to form for Nok…

I believe these watches used to be known under the Withings brand which got bought by Nokia. Very nice design (Max Bill inspired I guess).

Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#75

Post by sdenton4 »

downandout wrote: post #72
ArnoVanLumig wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You get the message that you achieved your standing goal right after the hour in which you achieved it. So it's entirely possible that you stood at 22:10, went to bed at 22:30, and get the achievement message at 23:00.

That's certainly possible, though I have noticed more quirky behavior than just this - the stand goal was just the most amusing one to me and that is why I posted that particular one here. I sometimes meet the exercise goal on a very sedentary day, while I don't meet it when I vigorously exercise, etc. I have a two story house and I climb and descend the steps probably 15+ times per day, yet for the current week , it…

As the old joke goes, How do you measure altitude with a barometer?

A: Drop it and measure how long it takes to hit the ground.

Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#76

Post by smnscu »

nezza-_- wrote: post #74
smnscu wrote: post #73

The only downside to the Apple Watch in my book is the short battery life which should theoretically make it impractical for sleep tracking. I was recently stupefied to discover Nokia Steel [1] and how virtually unknown it is to the general public, my former self included. It comes with great design, no bullshit digital screen, the usual tracking features, and most importantly seems like it's a return to form for Nok…

I believe these watches used to be known under the Withings brand which got bought by Nokia. Very nice design (Max Bill inspired I guess).

Yes, I should've mentioned Withings. I think I've heard good things about them in the past as well, they used to do a scale that now, wow, looks even better [1].

1: https://health.nokia.com/uk/en/body

Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#77

Post by omginternets »

justinjlynn wrote: post #11

Danger, danger: heavily regulated waters ahead! Remember these words well: "This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."

I came to say "danger, danger" but for another reason.

I think a whole generation of fitbit users are going to be horrified when their insurance premiums go up based on data that was purchased by insurers. If Apple watch starts making a health play, I don't see why it would be any different.

Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#78

Post by demomode »

joesb wrote: post #66
demomode wrote: post #27

As someone with diagnosed apnea I have so many doubts about this. Machines to diagnose apnea have lots of sensors including electrodes, "chest-band" pulsometers, and "saturationmeters". I have asked doctors about capabilities of smart devices for apnea control or detection, all I got was laughs. Sorry but I think this is not true. Go and see your doctor.

Nobody is saying to use this to replace going to the doctors. It's for you to just download the app, try it for a night, and see the doctor if the result concern you. It doesn't have to be hundreds percent accurate. Are you against teaching people to do self check-up of breast cancer, too? Because I'm sure medical process of checking for breast cancer requires more complicate tools than just feeling your breast with…

Apnea has obvious signs (fatigue, day sleep, depression, …) that are the equivalent of the "self check-up" in your example of breast cancer.

If you suspect that you have apnea episodes you should go to a doctor.

Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#79

Post by RBerenguel »

smnscu wrote: post #73

The only downside to the Apple Watch in my book is the short battery life which should theoretically make it impractical for sleep tracking. I was recently stupefied to discover Nokia Steel [1] and how virtually unknown it is to the general public, my former self included. It comes with great design, no bullshit digital screen, the usual tracking features, and most importantly seems like it's a return to form for Nok…

Maybe the app I'm using for sleep tracking does not track enough things (sound is tracked with the phone, for instance, but heartbeat is tracked with the watch), but it only seems to consume 3-5% of battery of my watch (Series 2, small). When I started tracking my sleep I changed my charging pattern from night to "while preparing breakfast" (after waking up) and "while at shower" (evening). Of course, 8 months is a different game :)

Re: The Apple Watch can detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests

#80

Post by RBerenguel »

downandout wrote: post #72
ArnoVanLumig wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You get the message that you achieved your standing goal right after the hour in which you achieved it. So it's entirely possible that you stood at 22:10, went to bed at 22:30, and get the achievement message at 23:00.

That's certainly possible, though I have noticed more quirky behavior than just this - the stand goal was just the most amusing one to me and that is why I posted that particular one here. I sometimes meet the exercise goal on a very sedentary day, while I don't meet it when I vigorously exercise, etc. I have a two story house and I climb and descend the steps probably 15+ times per day, yet for the current week , it…

When I work from home I have a standing desk, and it looks like the watch does not pick me as standing, so I almost never reach the standing goal there
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