Finally bought an Apple Watch specifically b/c of health issues

[Thomas Davie]

I am a dialysis patient (was peritoneal am now haemodialysis).

My sleep will be tracked for potential medican changes
My pulse rate is taken once every 15 minutes during Haemo. Having the AW on my wrist will allow me to calibrate/coorelate and then hopefully allow me to generate data at home found useful, primarily b/c I don’t take my bp/s or pulses while at ho e
An ekg? Priceless

They are also going to be monitoring my activity levels. Now I understand that there are no bp’s…yet, and the first implemenation might only give us trends or tendencies in bp’s. Same with blood glucose levels. I figure I’ll buy those watches when they get released.

I do want the following sensors and would also jump on these purchases in AW\

1) Blood Sodium
2) Blood Calcium
3) Blood Phosphorus
4) Blood Potassium, and then of AW can ever detect proteins, I would also pay for Creatinine and Urea.

I got the 45mm Cellular model b/c I need communications with me all the time in case of an emergency and I’ve frequently left my iPhone in the medical transport van (and then 2-3 days to get it back when I’m next picked up). Living alone in a rural area outside of a town has finally made this purchase a no brainer.

I do have one question: can the AW be charged by placing it on the nack of an iPhone 13 pro max to charge?

Tom

 

[Bichon]

No, the iPhone 13 pro max doesn't support reverse charging.

 

[Davidalan]

You could purchase an external battery for your iPhone that supports catching your watch. There are many, all different prices, from around $15 and up. I choose to show you via the link below the belkin because I have several products by them and no problems with them.

Belkin battery

 

[Thomas Davie]

You could purchase an external battery for your iPhone that supports catching your watch. There are many, all different prices, from around $15 and up. I choose to show you via the link below the belkin because I have several products by them and no problems with them.

Belkin battery

Thank-you. I’m familar with Belkin so I’ll check out the link you’ve provided.

Tom

 

[michaelsviews]

I am a dialysis patient (was peritoneal and am now on hemodialysis).

My sleep will be tracked for potential medication changes
My pulse rate is taken once every 15 minutes during Haemo. Having the AW on my wrist will allow me to calibrate/correlate and then hopefully allow me to generate data at home that I found useful, primarily b/c I don’t take my bp/s or pulses while at home
An EKG? Priceless

They are also going to be monitoring my activity levels. Now I understand that there are no bp’s…yet, and the first implementation might only give us trends or tendencies in bp’s. Same with blood glucose levels. I figure I’ll buy those watches when they get released.

I do want the following sensors and would also jump on these purchases in AW\

1) Blood Sodium
2) Blood Calcium
3) Blood Phosphorus
4) Blood Potassium, and then if AW can ever detect proteins, I would also pay for Creatinine and Urea.

I got the 45mm Cellular model b/c I need communications with me all the time in case of an emergency and I’ve frequently left my iPhone in the medical transport van (and then 2-3 days to get it back when I’m next picked up). Living alone in a rural area outside of a town has finally made this purchase a no-brainer.

I do have one question: can the AW be charged by placing it on the nack of an iPhone 13 pro max to charge?

Tom

Did you look at Garmin watches for the health side? They have an outstanding BT connection to iPhone but I read your part on misplacing your iPhone so that would be an issue. Garmin has a much longer battery life.

 

[BenGoren]

I do want the following sensors and would also jump on these purchases in AW\

1) Blood Sodium
2) Blood Calcium
3) Blood Phosphorus
4) Blood Potassium, and then of AW can ever detect proteins, I would also pay for Creatinine and Urea.

Best I know, all those tests currently and will likely always require blood samples and analysis with consumables — and certainly the proteins. The ions … maybe a proxy measurement through sweat or the like, but I’m pretty sure we’re a long ways from even proof-of-concept medical research devices. Even then, it’s a slam dunk it’d be trends over time and never give you a precise momentary reading.

Even if we ever turn Theranos’s snake oil into reality, you still need a drop of blood — and Apple is not ever going to build a device that (intentionally) breaks the skin (or requires that you do so yourself).

The best you can reasonably hope for is at-home testing with a prescription device that works through an app that integrates well into the Apple Health ecosystem.

On top of all the technical hurdles, these are also measurements that are completely irrelevant to almost everybody except to diagnose a condition. I can see how they’d be important to keep an eye on for those known to have kidney disease … but that’s a tiny, tiny fraction of the population and Apple is a mass-market consumer device company. There are sooooooooo many other health metrics of such greater importance to so many people that will get prioritized long before wearable bloodwork. Like … all the body composition (bone, muscle, fat) metrics, or nerve function. I mean, I can imagine a sensor in the phone that, if you hold it in the opposite hand from the watch, will give you some sort of neuropathy score — and that, insane as it would be, would be trivial compared to bloodwork.

Cheers,

b&

 

[Thomas Davie]

Did you look at Garmin watches for the health side? They have an outstanding BT connection to iPhone but I read your part on misplacing your iPhone so that would be an issue. Garmin has a much longer battery life.

My sister has a Garmin (not sure which model) but she’s ~2100 miles away in the middle of the continent and I’m in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia. Yes, I managed to lose my watchwhen being transported home from dialysis one day. I was playing with my iPad Pro and placed my phome on the seat - and then forgot about it the rest of the ride home. When I realized I didn’t have my phone, I used ‘find my’ to see my phone bouncing all around town, stopping briefly at the hospital and finally ending up at the medical transport base where it stayed Saturday afternoon until Tuesday morning, at which point the phone started moving toward me. It was my regular pickup, regular driver - who handed the phone to me.

B/c I live 25km outside of town, stopped driving when I started dialysis in 2017 I need comms in case of an emergency. So, cellular watch.

I’m not opposed to getting a Garmin, that’s what my right hand shall be for perhaps. I had a quick look at Garmin and off the cuff it seems like I would be a good fit for the Vivoactive 5 (heart rate, sleep and O2).

Thanks

Tom

 

[Davidalan]

1) Blood Sodium
2) Blood Calcium
3) Blood Phosphorus
4) Blood Potassium, and then of AW can ever detect proteins, I would also pay for Creatinine and Urea.

Check out the app MyNetDiary when entertering what you eat, the app will track the daily and weekly amount of those items and add automatically that information to the health app. Several different versions available.

My net diary

 

[Apple_Robert]

Congrats on your new watch. I hope it will work well for you in tracking some of your health needs.

 

[Thomas Davie]

Check out the app MyNetDiary when entertering what you eat, the app will track the daily and weekly amount of those items and add automatically that information to the health app. Several different versions available.

My net diary

Thank-you for the heads up. Will check it out. much appreciated.

Tom

 

[Thomas Davie]

These are the paid apps I’m using with dialysis at the general moment.

1) Workoutdoors. I don’t work out, but have an abandoned rail trail ~25 miles long very close to my house, and hike in good weather, frequently going off trail to explore. This helps in not getting lost, and one of these days I will be exploring that out of commission gold mine.

2) Autosleep. Useful in determining if some of my medications are working, specifically one for PTSD (from euthanizing animals for 27 years)

3) Heartwatch. I like the graphing presentation of data better than the Heartrate app that comes with the watch. I think bpm peaks are more prominently displayed, and again, potential medication adjustments

4) Just Press Record. Biweekly during dialysis, there are grand rounds where I get to interact with a team consisting of nephrologist, pharmacist, dietitian and social worker. And of course, nurses all the time. When I need clarifications for questions I have or receive new instructions, I record and have the transcriptions on my Mac > MS word

5) While in dialysis this morning I ended up with an ultra premium subscription for Carrot Weather. Damn is that one informative program.