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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

#151

Post by wmeredith »

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.

> I have so many doubts about this. As you should. "New study suggests" is basically the same as saying "new study didn't find". It's clickbait or a PR piece.

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

#152

Post by maxerickson »

brlewis wrote: post #150
maxerickson wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No need to speculate. Of course it would be reassuring if there was something in the privacy policy that directly addressed the question. There is stuff like If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, we will continue to take measures to protect the confidentiality of personal information and give affected users notice before transferring any personal information to a new entity. But "measures" a…

IMO something that specifically addressed an acquisition wouldn't add anything. Either Fitbit's acquirer is contractually bound by the privacy policy or it isn't. If it isn't, then the specifics about acquisition don't add anything. If it is, then "We pledge...to never sell your personal data" is enough. FWIW, Fitbit's publicly traded stock is non-voting, so hostile takeover is not possible.

Something about offering to delete a users data before material changes to the privacy policy took effect would be meaningful in more circumstances than acquisition.

It's kinda maybe in there already, but not directly (there is an offer to delete data and the language about continuing to use the service given a change).

I consider the pledge to be nearly meaningless. It's certainly a statement of good faith from the people working at and controlling the company today, but without any sort of legal teeth, it's also little more than a wet napkin.

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

#153

Post by malyk »

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 charge my gen 1 Apple Watch for ~45 minutes before bed every night and in a year and a half have only run out of battery during the day twice. I use it for sleep tracking every night.

The watch charges so quickly that dropping on the charger at 9pm for a bit is all I ever need.

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

#154

Post by moe »

brandonb wrote: post #140
omginternets wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

(I'm a study author and worked on HealthCare.gov rescue team) The good news is you're protected by the law. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers can only vary your rate based on your age, location, and whether you smoke. They can't take into account prior health conditions or biomarkers, including novel biomarkers measured on wearables. Every major Republican "repeal & replace" bill has preserved this part of the…

They can't take into account prior health conditions or biomarkers, including novel biomarkers measured on wearables.

Yet.

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

#155

Post by brlewis »

maxerickson wrote: post #152
brlewis wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO something that specifically addressed an acquisition wouldn't add anything. Either Fitbit's acquirer is contractually bound by the privacy policy or it isn't. If it isn't, then the specifics about acquisition don't add anything. If it is, then "We pledge...to never sell your personal data" is enough. FWIW, Fitbit's publicly traded stock is non-voting, so hostile takeover is not possible.

Something about offering to delete a users data before material changes to the privacy policy took effect would be meaningful in more circumstances than acquisition. It's kinda maybe in there already, but not directly (there is an offer to delete data and the language about continuing to use the service given a change). I consider the pledge to be nearly meaningless. It's certainly a statement of good faith from the…

In some circumstances privacy policies have had legal teeth, "particularly when parties claiming a breach have alleged that they read and subsequently relied on the policy prior to transacting business with the site operator" according to this page:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2010/08/...

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

#156

Post by KirinDave »

bertil wrote: post #94
KirinDave wrote: post #35

Unless you have a heart murmur like I do. Then: it just lies.

I suspect that the technology (and data) from cases like yours will make building either dedicated software or hardware for your case cheaper.

My snarky reply: "It's too bad I have to pay for the priviledge of being included in a data set used for product refinement."

Also: no. When I was working as an intern at St. Jude Medical we were training neural networks to recognize heart conditions and adjust other measurements. It was 2002. That work was later published and widely adopted. Modern medical hardware can account for it (inexpensive or older hardware often asks the technician to diagnose and calibrate the machine).

It's very frustrating that Apple continues to pretend economy of scale is breaking into new territory.

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

#157

Post by kevinherron »

jads wrote: post #138
kevinherron wrote: post #101

I went to sleep wearing my Apple Watch one night and awoke to a few hundred irregular heartbeat notifications. They weren’t legit. The watch just can’t get a good heart rate reading if it’s not situated perfectly on your wrist, and while sleeping it was pushed one way or another often enough to be useless.

That's probably the case with all HR monitors, no? If it's not securely in place, any HR monitor will have the same problem. I bought a knock-off velcro wrist strap for my watch and it keeps it in place. I have mixed success with traditional watch straps as my wrist size always seems to be in-between notches.

All the optical wrist-based ones, probably.

I imagine if I wore my chest strap monitor I'd have better results as long as I put some kind of jelly on the electrodes to make up for the lack of sweat through the night.

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

#158

Post by gxs »

doikor wrote: post #38
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…

> I now routinely get messages about how I've achieved my standing goal - while lying in bed watching TV or working on my laptop. I routinely get messages about having to stand up while standing up on my standing desk at work. (Series 2 here)

That's right - the notification itself tells you to get up and walk around for a minute.

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

#159

Post by wlesieutre »

carlmcqueen wrote: post #112
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…

This perception of low battery life has really lasted from the first apple watch. It was the reason, along with that it wasn't water proof enough for me, that I didn't get the first one. I wear my apple watch 2 all day, sleep in it, and charge it in the time I'm getting ready in the morning. that's all it needs and it never runs out of battery.

With my Pebble Time I can travel for a week and not even bring the charging cable. Still disappointed that they went under.

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

#160

Post by stouset »

dTal wrote: post #110
toxik wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like there is a huge difference in the capabilities of the Apple Watch and the Nokia Steel. The Steel has a motion sensor, accelerometer, bluetooth and maybe wifi? The Apple Watch, needless to say, has a lot more than that: GPS, GSM, wifi, bluetooth, heart rate sensor, accelerometer, light sensor, etc. I'm sure the Nokia Steel fills a niche but I feel like the Apple Watch is much more interesting from a capabi…

And if the Apple watch also came with a fold-out bottle opener and a tool for getting stones out of horse's hooves, would that make it a better watch? It's not about the number of "features", but whether it's a productive, convenient item to have in your life. A 1-day battery life on a watch is a serious flaw. The only smartwatch that was ever a good watch , at least that I've seen, was the Pebble. The one-week batte…

When you’re critiquing a hardware device, it might help to be factually accurate instead of basing criticisms on your own misunderstandings.

First, the Apple Watch easily lasts at least two days with headroom. Second, most of those extra hardware features — which you essentially dismiss outright — directly support what is likely the largest selling point and driver of demand: fitness tracking.

To be honest, at this point, the Apple Watch is to a wristwatch what the iPhone is to a traditional cellphone. Arguing that it’s not the best (or even a particularly good) timekeeping device isn’t particularly compelling, because such functions are secondary or even tertiary uses of the device. It’s about as silly as reviewing smartphones solely on their telecommunications stack, which is likely amongst the least-used features of a modern smartphone.

It’s fine if you really just want a timekeeping device, but your criticisms are going to go over about as well as someone wishing for a return of the Nokia candybar days.

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