In yet another episode of Apple Watch saving life, a 36-year old man from Flitwick in Bedfordshire, UK is crediting the device for detecting an undiagnosed heart condition. According to a report by BBC, author Adam Croft woke up at midnight to find his Apple Watch pointing that his heart was in Atrial fibrillation. In simple terms, the smartwatch showed that his heartbeat was not regular.
“It’s not a feature I’d ever expected to use,” he told the publication. Croft said that he had gotten up from a sofa one evening after he felt dizzy. He then went up to the kitchen to get a glass of water when he “immediately felt the world closing in.”
“I managed to get down on the floor and ended up in a pool of cold sweat,” he said.
Next morning, he saw multiple alerts from his Apple Watch. He then called UK medical helpline 111 who advised him to go to the hospital. “I called 111 (UK medical helpline) who said get to hospital within the hour,” he told BBC in the interview.
Upon further testing at Bedford hospital, it was confirmed that Croft was in Atrial fibrillation (AFib). For those unaware, AFib is an irregular, often very fast heart beat rhythm that can result in the formation of blood clots. It can interrupt blood flow, causing palpitations, chest pain, and breathlessness, increasing the risk of stroke.
Croft says that he may have never gone to the hospital if he had not received alerts from Apple Watch. He has also experienced ‘little flutterings’ of the heart previously, but the watch missed them. However, these have not occurred in the months, he added. “I never had any pain or symptoms that I thought were serious,” he said.
Croft has now been put on blood thinners by doctors. He said that he will undergo a cardioversion procedure, which involves the use of “quick, low-energy shocks to restore a regular heart rhythm.” “The watch will be staying on now,” he said.
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