Do apple watches really alert to heartattacks?

[Takingontheworld]

I read on here some time ago about an apple watch alerting users that they were going to have a heart attack, allowing the person to get to a hospital in time. Another sent an alert to emergency contact when an accident occured.

I've been having chest niggles for some time and the drs aren't listening. If the apple watch will give me some tiny form of safety, I'll buy.

Thoughts? What do you love about your apple watch?

It’s a complicated question tbh, but in short as far as I know Apple Watches cannot be used to defect MI’s (heart attacks) or impending MI’s, however, they may detect other issues caused by them or store information that if looked at by a professional would indicate an MI.

I work in cardiology, I’m aware the Apple Watch has technology with can detect arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms), and it is very sensitive and specific when detecting abnormal rhythms like atrial fibrillation (I recently submitted my masters thesis on detection of arrhythmias) as far as I’m aware (I may be incorrect as I’m not an expert on Apple watches and they are not currently recommended in guidelines) that it records a limited ECG (3 leads not 12) and stores them, so in theory if someone developed and arrhythmia due to an MI which does sometimes happen, it could detect that and alert you. I’m not sure it alerts for the main diagnostic “evidence” of an MI which is ST depression or elevation though. So I would not purchase one for that purpose, you should see your GP and get a referral to cardiology if needed as we can perform testing (if appropriate) to see if you are at risk of an MI and give you medication to reduce your risk (statins etc) please do not rely on a watch to do this.

Thank you Elsie! It did seem far fetched that someone's aunt was simply driving along and her apple watch told her to go to hospital but then as someone who can just about send a text I wasn't sure if I was just even further behind the times than I thought.

I'm getting painful niggles in my chest slightly off centre to the left. Can't always tell if its heart or breast (huge boobs!) I posted here about it last month but when I called the dr he didn't care much. Ironically I've been on Keto for 10 days and it hasn't happened but unsure if this is coincidence. It did seem to sometimes coincide with eating sugary foods but also equally as random so wasn't sure if I was just getting paranoid as I'm a fatty.

Plays on my mind though and have been considering paying out for a full health check privately.

How would you describe the niggle? If it happens at random it does not sound like typical chest pain we associate with coronary artery disease and angina. Which would normally happen with exertion and be relieved by rest, it would also feel tight, dull, or heavy and would last more than a second or two. Angina would typically happen on exertion, unless you had severe (unstable) angina, which I doubt from what you’ve written. If you don’t mind answering, roughly how old are you? Do you have diabetes? Do you smoke? What’s your blood pressure like? Chest pain in someone without risk factors for coronary artery disease is almost always not angina. It’s usually muscular, but can also be reflux (sound like it may be the case if it’s related to food), or sometimes you might be feeling ectopics, which are (usually) benign extra heart beats (some people are sensitive to them and they often become more frequent with age).

It will alert you to a recurring problem when it monitors your heart rate. I have the Apple Watch 3 series,so not the one with the ecg built in, but I was alerted once when I was having a panic attack and my heart rate was up to 120 whilst not moving purposefully

I'm 30. Size 18. Otherwise well, walk the dogs each day but never get the chest pain then, I'm fairly sedentary otherwise and really will come on while I'm doing nothing at all.

Interesting thank you H1978

It's sudden, lasts a couple minutes or so, sometimes longer. It feels "deep" almost muffled, but sharp and uncomfortable. It's so hard to explain. I've considered anxiety but its not like my whole chest, its a very specific area. I've considered breast pain rather than chest/heart. Not breastfeeding, pregnant etc so nothing to really explain it..I've had heartburn in past and its not that, nor reflux. It's very much to the left, just as my breast slopes down if that makes sense..I've tried to watch my fit bit to see if ive increased bpm but not consistently enough to know.

Was significantly worse after i had Corona 2 month ago, in that the periods lasted longer (10-15m) and at one point kept me up half the night. Never increasing in pain, but permanent rather than fleeting.

Would be unusual, but not unheard of to have angina at 30 without diabetes or heavy smoking, however, if it’s not triggered or relived by anything then it makes it even more unlikely. As the other previous poster said, it will alert you to a fast heart rate, but you can have an MI without an elevated heart rate, the diagnostic criteria for an MI on an ECG is st elevation or depression, which as far as I know the watch does not alert you to, so if you’re worried about that it’s not worthy buying imo. Again, people can correct me if I’m wrong, but Apple watches alert at rhythm and rate only, so if your heart is too fast, slow or irregular, none of that is particularly useful in detecting or warning of an MI, we look at ST segments for that, which the Apple Watch does not alert on or interpret.

My advice would be if you’re concerned about this pain get it investigated through your doctor, don’t waste your money on an Apple Watch as it won’t do what you’re hoping it will and will provide a false sense of security.