Can I make clear, at this point that I have no affiliation with any technology company that makes, sells or designs mobile phones or smartwatches.
With the latest and greatest fitness technology, users can be warned about early illnesses, symptoms of serious conditions such as heartbeat irregularity, and even stress signs that have a huge impact on our health and well-being.
Please Note Link to a report from the BHF (British Heart Foundation) regarding the use of smartwatches with Pacemakers etc.
Atrial fibrillation is significantly more common amongst PMR patients, over and above the age-related incidence. If patients, ask their doctors they are usually told "it's the pred" and dismissed. The point is, it doesn't matter WHY someone has an arrythmia, it requires investigation and at least anticoagulant treatment to reduce the risk of stroke, but it is the getting past the GP or rheumy that poses a problem. A smart watch provides concrete evidence that can be presented to the GP and even cardiologists accept their tracings.
A modern, state of the art watch, will enable you to keep track, on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, your choice of time scale, basis a record of your Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, Blood Oxygen monitoring and the ability to provide an ecg on demand. They also include your GPS position as many also have a fall detector. If it detects you have fallen it will give you an opportunity to respond that you are Ok, if it receives no response from you, it will call for help either/both a 999 call and/or a call to a contact you have pre-programmed.
Most will pair to the mobile via Bluetooth, and depending on the watch and the mobile you are pairing it to you will probably need to download some software which will store and allow you to access the readings easily. Very useful for showing doctors/health professionals.
Depending on the watch, your provider and your contract, some will allow you to receive/make calls, receive/send emails/texts/play music etc, even if you do not have your phone with you.
I have a Samsung Galaxy watch with a Samsung mobile, which comes with all the relevant software, on a Vodafone contract, and it costs me a very small amount to give me all the above and peace of mind. My own GP is also very happy and supportive that I have this aid.
Which is the best to buy/rent? That is really a question that only you can decide, depending on what functions you wish it to perform, what make of smartphone you own (or are prepared to buy/get contract for) and the price you are able/willing to pay.
My advice is don’t rush into anything, look at all the options, search online for reviews, decide what you want/need it to do. Is it better to buy it outright or add it to your present mobile contract?
Please note. The results from your watch do not replace the diagnostic abilities/equipment of the health professionals. If your watch results show unusual or worrying trends, then you do need to get professional medical advice.
If anyone wants/needs any links or help finding out more please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Hope this helps.
Written by
Bcol
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Thankyou! I really do think comment like this from someone who has actually used it is helpful. I know it can be done - but wouldn't have a clue where to start looking though.
I agree with Bcol with everything he mentioned. Why I love my smart watch is that Siri is a British male and my hearing aids also have a British male. These two plus my male Guinea Pig are the only males in my life as of now!
I think I have said before I have a Fitbit that I find very useful, but will stick to my Omron blood pressure monitor as I do find it accurate. I am not really into the extra that modern smartphones have or the cost of them
I went to a ladies' supper and we were discussing Rolex as someone had just received one from her OH. That lady thought I had one but mine was £25 from M&S😂🤣
Fair enough - but they do different things. Horses for courses. Not even a top of the range BP device will record an ECG to prove to your GP you are having a proper arrythmia!
I have a withing watch that has been recording all the adfibs i had 1st doctor put me on a 24hr monitor didnt show adfibs but did show i have bracadia which is a very low heart beat after my medical check up my 2nd doctor asked how my adfibs were going as i dont have them all the time i showed him my recordings and i am now bk on heart monitor for 3 days my bet is it wont catch them again as they are irregular 17 adfibs last month 8 this month now i just go with the flow🙃
I had no interest in a smartwatch until my other half bought me one as a birthday gift. Amazed at the health / fitness monitoring and tracking capabilities and I’ve not gone beyond the basics yet. We’re an Apple household so it’s an Apple Watch to pair with my iPhone 13. Your post has prompted me to investigate more of what it can do!
Since I got cryo-ablation for Atrial fibrillation I have and use a smartwatch linked with my Android smartphone. The parameters re.heart, sleep, etcetera. are so useful and if there is sometimes that worries me, I make a screenpribt for my cardiologist. Moreover it stimulates me to move each day. First I had Fitbit, now already 3 years Garmin. It reassures me to monitor my heart.
My cryo-ablation was done in the university hospital of the Univ.of Brussels in the dept.that developed together with the company the instrument for cryo ablation already 5 years ago. I have no more AFib and every year the cardiologist, who performed it controls me (12 lead ECG and echo of the heart). Everything is ok and I cycling a lot walk a lot and monitor my HR with my watch. I am glad I got cryo instead of laser ablation. It seems to be more effective. Good luck with your ablation and keep moving!
I think here they choose the mode according to your history - but cryo definitely sounds preferable. Lucky you to have it done in the Brussels unit. I'm waiting for a call but they said August/early September originally. August will be fine but if it is delayed I may have to ask for a postponement as the second half of September and first week of October I have unchangeable plans that require me to be fit to drive on my own!
Apple watch here, wouldn’t be without it. My GP uses it to check how my heart rate’s going to now!
I’d been fairly sceptical about it but interested. However, when I had severe palpitations I was very pleased to see that the heart rate on my watch was identical to the heart rate on the monitor I was rigged up to! Since then I’ve used it much more and paid more attention!
It’s an Apple Watch, it basically has everything bar the kitchen sink 😉
I totally agree with your comments about smartwatches. I would go as far as to say that my Samsung Galaxy could well have saved my life. About six months ago I purchased the smartwatch. It frequently told me that I had atrial fibrillation (the watch seems to label all arrhythmias as such). I forwarded a copy to my GP who considered it to be an ectopic heartbeat but suggested a 72 hour monitor to make certain. It took five months to get it! The result indicated a complete heart block and I was sent to hospital as an emergency. Two days later I had a pacemaker fitted which seems to be working well. I had previously had no symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pains etc. only the arrhythmia detected by the watch. I was running, circuit training and lifting weights. It makes me shiver to think about it.
Only problem is, on phoning Samsung to register my thanks, I was told not to wear the watch again as it could interfere with the working of the pacemaker. You can’t win them all!
That reminds me of a story my mother used to tell about when she was a child and they got their first radio. A neighbour came in and said how come there’s a woman in yours and a man in mine🤣
I use mine, a basic fitbit mainly to monitor my sleep. I am reassured that I sleep better than I thought. It takes the stress away. I also have a diagnosis of AF so I set it up to alert me if I have any AF detected. In the 10 months I have had the watch, it has never detected anything.
Hi, no there is no charge for anything that the watch does. Everything is recorded on the software, also free, on the phone. The only extra fee I pay is for the ability to use the watch as a mobile phone even if my phone is not with me. Even that only costs me £3.00/month.
I have had an Apple watch, a Samsung Galaxy watch and now a Google Pixel watch. All good. Have to say I'm an electonic gadget junkie, a digital artist on my phones and tablets, but I wouldn't be without my smartwatch. It not only monitors my heart rate and blood oxygen, but counts my steps, which is vital to keep me moving, as I shall be 90 in 12 days and now do most of my walking on the spot indoors.
I have a Circul ring to track O2, BPM, and Sleep stages at night, and a KardiaMobile6L to track Heart Rhythm. The Circul does a continuous track, and the Kardia is activated by me. I would love to find one device that does all of that real-time!
Unfortunately I haven't found one that does it all. If anyone knows of one that realtime that tracks O2, heart rythym, bpm, and sleep stages (i.e. REM, deep, light, etc) I'd love to know
Look up withings its a french make does all the things you stated and more even told me i had a high breathing disturbance on 30 july now going for a sleep apnea test
So i have a fitbit versa 3. Its almost part of my life now. It means I can monitor my resting heart rate ' and sleep patterns ( yes if you wake up ir knows ) and shows my cardio vascular score which for my age is excellent even with PMR.Also nothing to do with smart phones and smart watches i was.contacted by my doctor to ask if I would agree to be put on a trial by Cambridge University who are researching AF within the UK. I said yes as its good to help understand better these risks with AF to everyone . I have PMR and take pred ( now tapering) with some weight gain so I am an ideal candidate I guess.
I have an Apple Smart watch.. which I love. I especially love it when it says have you fallen .. and will call emergency if I dont answer and have indeed fallen. I have not had to use that yet. but I did have a friend who had a terrible episode of breathlessness and panic and I put my Apple Watch on him and took the EEG and he was in a big episode of Atrial Fib. when he recovered and was at the doctor I sent the record to him and his doctor who could see his whole EEG printed out on the message. these watches are AMAZING. And I was able to delete it so it did not appear as MY information. GET one!
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