Apple Watches has always been a helping hand for health care providers in many regards. The new Series 10 watches from Apple, with their bigger, and slimmer form factor are no different. With improved health monitoring capabilities and more features, the Apple Watch Series 10 can help monitor the health vitals of the users all day every day.
It is reported that many doctors, use the help of Apple Watch to monitor the vitals of their patients in less serious cases. Apple watches can monitor heart rate, ECG, Sleep, and other vitals. The new iteration of the popular smartwatch is capable of detecting the possibility of sleep apnea – a serious condition where the affected person feels difficulty breathing while sleeping.
All the health-related data from the Apple Watch directly goes to the Health app. So, it is only natural that healthcare professionals are starting to take the vital readings from Apple watches more seriously. There have been several reports from various users that proved that the Apple Watch is much more than a fitness tracker, and more of a health monitoring device.
Apple Watch 10 Health and Wellness Features
Here is the list of health and wellness features offered by Apple Watch 10, which you can purchase from your nearest stores or online e-commerce websites:
- Blood Oxygen app2
- ECG app3
- Cycle Tracking app with retrospective ovulation estimates4
- Heart Rate app
- High and low heart rate notifications
- Irregular rhythm notifications5
- Medications app
- Mindfulness app with state-of-mind tracking
- Noise app
- Sleep app including sleep stages
Additionally, it also offers many safety features, that may become crucial in saving the user from a potential fatality:
- Emergency SOS
- International emergency calling
- Crash Detection
- Fall Detection
- Noise monitoring
- Backtrack
Also Read: How To Pair Apple Watch To New Phone?
5 Times Apple Watch Helped Saving a Life
While the Apple Watch is officially not a “medical device” it has played vital roles in saving the lives of many people, either by detecting irregularities in the heartbeats, variations in blood pressure, and straight-up determining the blood oxygen levels (which the Apple Watches can no longer do, due to patent issues). Here are 5 instances where the Apple Watch proved itself as a good investment for monitoring health of the users.
- When Sneha Saha, a 35-year-old woman residing in India experienced a high pulse rate, she first dismissed it as a stress-induced panic attack. However, it is after wearing the Apple Watch she realized the irregular heartbeat. She was rushed to the ER and found out that she was having Atrial Fibrillation. Thanks to timely intervention fueled by Apple Watch, she eventually recovered.
- In the case of the 28-year-old Toy Janucey, Apple Watches crash detection really came in handy, when he was met with an accident, turning a roundabout. The crash detection triggered an emergency call immediately and the paramedic responded quickly.
- Dr. Rashid Riaz relied on the Apple Watch to detect the blood oxygen level of an elderly woman who suddenly became extremely short of breath. He was able to revive her with the help of the cabin crew and stabilize her till they landed. Upon landing, she was taken to the hospital and reports say that she recovered.
- Apple Watch detected an irregular heart rate in Kimmie Watkins when she was taking a nap. The Watch alerted Watkins to wake up and take medical care. After she was hospitalized, the doctors found that she was experiencing pulmonary embolism. The 29-year-old went into surgery immediately, which helped her recover.
- The heart rate monitor on Apple Watch played a crucial role in saving a 12-year-old child from Appendicitis and in turn cancer. The chilling report comes from New York, where the Apple Watch repeatedly alerted high heart rates, and the 12-year old Imani Miles was rushed to the hospital. Doctors diagnosed appendicitis and also found a cancerous tumour which was later removed.
Read More: Apple Intelligence: Latest AI Features Explained
Apple Watch as a Medical Device
While the Apple Watch has proven that it can save lives in many ways, it cannot be considered a medical device technically, because to do that Apple needs approval from the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration).
Additionally, users will need a prescription from an approved medical officer for using the device. So, the Apple Watch should stay as a handy device that can oversee a bunch of health information, while not explicitly being a medical device.
That being said, many people are affected by various health conditions such as hypertension, type-1 diabetes, heart conditions, sleep apnea, etc. Wear an Apple Watch at all times like a medical device. They use it for constant health monitoring and believe that the Apple Watch can alert them in case of any irregularities.
However, users should be aware that the readings of an Apple Watch cannot be hundred percent accurate at all times. So, before coming to conclusions based on vital readings from the Apple Watch, you need to consult a healthcare professional for an accurate diagnosis.
