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Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

reuters.com

131–140 of 242 posts

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#131
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just imagine all the stress and suffering caused by the misdiagnosis and unnecessary visits to the doctor and unnecessary tests and imagine that on a grand scale (to say nothing of wasted resources). I’m not saying that to automatically disqualify and increase in the availability of testing – but it does have to be implemented with the proper care and caution.

Given the choice between A) Everyone is told nothing. B) 5% of people are told “Here’s something. It’s serious.” And, 45% of people are told “Here’s something. But, it’s not serious.” Option B sounds greatly preferable.

For now, I'd prefer option C) "Here's something. Go ask your doctor if it's serious."

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#132
post #95
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve turned off all notifications on my watch other than texts and phone calls - it’s nice to be able to walk outside without my phone, but still can call someone if we lose each other.

I don't have a smart watch, so I assumed it connects to your phone via Bluetooth. Is that not the case? Otherwise how can you leave the house without your phone also?

Several watches, including Apple Watch, have a version with built-in LTE. I use it all the time and leave my phone at home. Kinda liberating, actually.

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#133
post #95
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve turned off all notifications on my watch other than texts and phone calls - it’s nice to be able to walk outside without my phone, but still can call someone if we lose each other.

I don't have a smart watch, so I assumed it connects to your phone via Bluetooth. Is that not the case? Otherwise how can you leave the house without your phone also?

The series 3 have cellular modems and virtual SIMs.

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#134
post #23

In the future everyone will wear a smartwatch. My thesis was health and safety. https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/in-the-future-everyo...

Hopefully in the future they’ll be slimmer, cheaper, and last more than a day without recharging.

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#135
post #101

this is kind of a trivial question but is the apple watch HR monitor known to be better than that of FitBit? I got a Charge 3 for Christmas and I barely even wear it anymore, as it would say things like "95 bpm" when I'm working out and I'm clearly at around 135 bpm. you can say things like "oh wear it higher / lower / tighter" whatever but if it's that prone to being 40 bpm off the mark, what use is it.

One-off comment, but the new band has really improved HR detection for me. I went from the rubber strap (with holes every centimeter or so) to the adjustable velcro strap and it's night & day. It went from being 100% useless on runs to _actually_ keeping accurate detection the entire run.

What do you mean by the velcro strap? Is it the "Sport loop" (https://store.storeimages.cdn-apple.com/4982/as-images.apple...)?

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#136
post #70
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't lie detectors junk science?

They're based on the idea that if you're made to tell a lie, your body will react in some way (sweating, faster heartbeat etc) compared to a baseline measurement. There is a whole field of psychology around lying and additionally agents are ostensibly trained to detect visual cues that someone is telling a lie. The premise isn't exactly junk - hardware lie detectors are basically trying to identify a fight or flight…

It's borderline useless. And can do lots of harm if assumed that it's useful.

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#137

I saw a few posts on Reddit about how the Apple Watch basically saved people's life: https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/a40qm5/heading_... https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/9zrdq5/how_an_a... I'm sure there is a lot more. (Also all the people losing weight)

I wish there was a heartbeat-measuring watch with the battery life of a dumb watch. My watch goes like 5 years (I've lost count honestly) on its original battery. I'd love to have something watching out for my health but I just can't see myself moving to a smartwatch that needs recharging every 18 hours when I don't even need the smartness crap...

You might like the Withings Steel HR, which has a traditional mechanical watchface, a heart rate sensor, and about 25 days of battery life: https://www.withings.com/us/en/steel-hr/36rgw/shop?screen=de...

Some Garmin and Fitbit models have good battery life — often about a week.

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#138

Public Service Announcement: You can just check your pulse manually for free. AFIB will be irregularly irregular. As as comparing cancer to AFIB it's definitely not accurate to compare the two directly. A very common cause of AFIB in people younger than 60 for example is 'holiday heart' short-term AFIB related to binge drinking, it is generally self-resolving and transitory, and generally does not require treatment e…

Actually most cancers do self-resolve in that your immune system kills them before they get large. This is one of the reasons being on immune suppression drugs leads to a significantly higher risk of developing cancer that gets large enough to be detected.

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#139
post #6
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't lie detectors junk science?

In the same way statistical spam filters are junk† science. They suffer from false positives/negatives issues, but they perform a lot better than coin toss. † Granted spam filters literally deal with junk..

>but they perform a lot better than coin toss

I'm curious how that was tested. And if there is a source for this.

Re: Apple Watch detects irregular heart beat in large U.S. study

#140
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish there was a heartbeat-measuring watch with the battery life of a dumb watch. My watch goes like 5 years (I've lost count honestly) on its original battery. I'd love to have something watching out for my health but I just can't see myself moving to a smartwatch that needs recharging every 18 hours when I don't even need the smartness crap...

My Amazfit Bip ($99) is supposed to have 45 days and lasts about 30 days on minute heart rate monitoring intervals (based on a month and a half of trying it). I wanted something a bit smaller, to fit under the shirt cuff, so got the Mi Band 3 ($50) which lasts about 10 days (probably 20 days if you don't allow it to display notifications and set a higher HR interval). The Mi app is pretty bad, which forces you to buy…

I second the Amazfit Bip. Mine has around 40 days of battery life.

On iOS, I use AmazTools [1] to sync the heart rate data to the Health app.

[1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amaztools/id1386033880?mt=8

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