Reddit:
I’m an Emergency Physician and read/interpret ECGs on a daily basis. I wanted to talk about the Apple Watch’s new ECG feature as there are a lot of misconceptions about this new function. Apple Watch’s new ECG feature is pretty neat and a lot of people here are understandably excited about it, but it does have limitations.
The new Apple Watch looks like a great tool, but it is not meant to be a medical grade device and not a substitute for medical and professional evaluation in the case of symptoms. Even if your Apple Watch ECG appears totally normal that does not necessarily mean you do not have atrial fibrillation or other cardiac abnormalities.
I’m by no means an expert in this kind of thing but this seems like good, common sense information. Any doctors in the audience who can confirm or refute any of the statements made in this Reddit post?
I am a medical doctor and most of what is said is true and the larger point to chill on the hyperbole is correct. HOWEVER though he or she is correct on saying it doesn’t rule OUT conditions particularly well, it can rule IN SOME cardiac arrhythmias and heart attacks SOMETIMES.
For example, me, I am a 49 year old male entering prime heart attack years. So many times I have what I think is heart burn or spasm in my esophagus. Some day I might have one and see that the EKG is markedly abnormal and I would 911 it. Now someday I might have a very intense pain and the EKG is normal, but if it were classic and intense enough I wouldn’t count on the EKG function being normal and saying I won’t go, I’d still have to use judgment.
While you’re here, a question for you:
I was just diagnosed with AFib and while I don’t know if it’s sporadic (probably) or chronic (probably not) I’d like to track it over time. I don’t want the watch alerting me, just tracking my rate in the background so I can look at the data later and maybe compare it to a time journal I keep on when I feel my heart pounding.
Do you think this might be useful? Thanks ahead of time for any info you can give.
probably yes
I’ve ordered one so we’ll see. Thanks.
In medical statistical words, this means the watch has a LOW SENSITIVITY (doesn’t pick up good percentage of bad conditions, not good) but HIGH SPECIFICITY (when it is positive it is almost assuredly bad)
Speaking of ECG, my wife was just reading the Apple Watch page and pointed out that in light gray letters it says “ECG app coming later this year.” That’s the first I’d heard that. Did I just miss everyone writing about that or is it new?
As far as I’m concerned, any reasonable person is going to understand that. If you’ve ever been strapped to an EKG machine, you know it takes more than two points of contact. It takes three probes stuck in three places to get a good measurement. What surprised me, once I had my diagnosis (I have AFIB and I needed a triple bypass) was how fast a reading with a medical EKG goes. It’s mere seconds. But they also do a bunch of readings over time as well.
But as far as the watch is concerned, having it may not get the job done, but not wearing it means outside of being strapped up to a proper EKG machine, you don’t have a chance of catching something that could end your life. With the watch, you at least have a shot.
It’s been there for several days already. I noticed it right away.
Not new. It was there on the original video.
Ok. I didn’t watch the video. I had a doctor’s appointment and by the time I got out it was over and I knew what got announced. I’m just surprised I didn’t read about the “coming later this year” part in any of the blogs.