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Study Suggests Apple Watch Heart Rate Monitor Can Detect Hypertension and Sleep Apnea
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For those complaining, charge it at work. Doesn’t take long. You also only have to do this every two days. Then you can wear it nightly.
I don’t wear it in the shower though.
I don’t wear it in the shower though.
Came here looking for comments on the health tech applications... all I see is battery praises 
I had a series 0 that lasted almost 2 days. Then the back casing came off. Apple replaced it next day free of charge with Applecare, but now my new series 0 barely lasts a day, and where my last series 2 was “accurate” to within 100th of a mile after a 5 mile run, my new one is almost 10% off... I hope it continues to get more accurate as this watch learns me. I figured the learned data was stored on the phone and would transfer to a new watch.
I had a series 0 that lasted almost 2 days. Then the back casing came off. Apple replaced it next day free of charge with Applecare, but now my new series 0 barely lasts a day, and where my last series 2 was “accurate” to within 100th of a mile after a 5 mile run, my new one is almost 10% off... I hope it continues to get more accurate as this watch learns me. I figured the learned data was stored on the phone and would transfer to a new watch.
I found out that the learned movement data does not carry over even if you restore to an identical device.Came here looking for comments on the health tech applications... all I see is battery praises
I had a series 0 that lasted almost 2 days. Then the back casing came off. Apple replaced it next day free of charge with Applecare, but now my new series 0 barely lasts a day, and where my last series 2 was “accurate” to within 100th of a mile after a 5 mile run, my new one is almost 10% off... I hope it continues to get more accurate as this watch learns me. I figured the learned data was stored on the phone and would transfer to a new watch.
For longer battery life disable sounds. Uninstall needless notification apps such as Instagram notifications or Facebook notifications to the Watch as those are completely unnecessary.
Raise wrist to wake as well helps. Then again I’m on S2 but I do follow your charging habits exactly.
turn off haptic also for a less interrupted sleep cycle. unless of course that’s what is supposed to be alerting me to a problem. hmmmm, must look further into this.
Yeah, the Apple Watch charges so quickly it really shouldn’t be a problem.
So, will someone explain how the Apple Watch can detect sleep apnea when it's on the charger because the damn thing can't hold a charge for more than 16 hours?
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Oh...
Now we have devolved into 'Wrist-gate'? Wearing it wrong? I can see them telling the world that too... :-(
Is that why it doesn't seem to work well for cellular functions too? Who knew. We have defective wrists! Is that why so many die each year? 'Recalls'?
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Oh...
Now we have devolved into 'Wrist-gate'? Wearing it wrong? I can see them telling the world that too... :-(
Is that why it doesn't seem to work well for cellular functions too? Who knew. We have defective wrists! Is that why so many die each year? 'Recalls'?
I have a Series 3 LTE too and put it in theatre mode before bed. Usually I wake up with about 90-93% charge left. Then I stick it on the charger while I shower and get dressed. By the end of the day it usually has 60-70% charge left and I charge it again while getting the 18 month old bathed etc...and it is 100% by the time he is in bed.
Depends on your time schedule and usage.
I have a series 2 watch and if I don't do 30-minute or longer, heavy workouts (like in rest days, or if you only do 15 minute HIIT or open goal workouts) you can easily get one day and one night worth of charge. I don't sleep with it though, and I turn it off during that period, so I've been able to get two days worth of usage without recharge, basically on weekends and exercise rest days.
Also, it's actually very fast at recharging, so you'd have to experiment with your routine to squeeze in it a one or two hour charge during the day if you wanna monitor your HR when asleep.
Just saying that it's not that hard to achieve.
You know that person was joking? If you own an Apple Watch you would know it last more then day and only requires about an hour a day charge to keep going, this doesn't not include S0.
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It is so much easier to just make part of day to throw your watch on charger for an hour. I wear mine about 23 hours every day without issue.
That's exactly what I just said. If someone complains about the Apple Watch battery life is because they don't have one and don't know how to integrate it to a routine. I don't like wearing watches when I sleep and I have no illness that requires my HR to be monitored at all times, so I either turn it off or leave it charging all night, so insufficient battery life is really non-existant to me.
First off, let me say this. I have sleep apnea, and so can speak to the current tests the team is talking about. The home sleep apnea test involves a cannula (a hollow tube that has to be strapped to your head so that it lies between your nostrils and mouth, with a sensitive microphone to detect breathing), a chest strap (again to detect breathing or exertion), and a pulse-ox finger-tip monitor. All three of these have wires that lead back to a box which records everything happening from the moment it turns on until you turn it off when you wake up. This is the preliminary, first-line test for sleep apnea (generally followed up with a night or so in a "sleep lab" to get a supervised diagnosis and treatment strategy). It needs to be worn for three nights in a row, then the data card from the box sent in to a company along with a $500-1000 payment (insurance covers, but not if you haven't met your deductible for the year yet naturally) to a company like Snap Diagnostics, who sit down and listen to the recordings and readouts, counting partial-breath events per hour, lapses in breathing rhythm,struggling to breath, etc, to come up with a preliminary diagnosis.
As you might imagine, that is highly uncomfortable, and highly disruptive to one's normal sleep patterns (yielding inaccurate results). It is the "state of the art" in first-cut diagnoses of sleep apnea at home.
If that highly-disruptive, expensive, and unwieldy contraption can be replaced with just "wear your watch overnight and send in the results to Deep Heart for analysis" that is a MASSIVE win. Approximately 25% of adult men have sleep apnea; the vast majority (especially those who sleep alone and hence do not have a spouse reporting that they stopped breathing or woke up gasping in the middle of the night) are completely undiagnosed and thus untreated. As the blog post notes, in the US alone sleep apnea drives about $150B per year in direct (treatment) and indirect (accidents, secondary conditions) costs. Getting at that 80% of sleep apnea sufferers who are unaware that they have a problem and treating the problem (which might be lifestyle, sleeping arrangement, or surgical) would be a huge win for society at large.
If this doesn't seem to matter to you because you know you sleep soundly every night, consider that the guy who has undiagnosed sleep apnea might be approaching the intersection you are in from the side, falling asleep at the wheel (one of the most common apnea-related accidents).
My Apple Watch 3 (GPS, non-cellular) lasts easily for two full days (put on in morning, wear through first day, second night, and second day) ending at around 35% when I take it off the second night for charging. That is with 1.5-2 hours of exercise each of those days (as I mentioned above, I suffer from sleep apnea, primarily from nasal opening issues but greatly exacerbated by being overweight, so I'm on a crash course to get my weight back down to the "normal" range). I certainly could use the Apple Watch every other night with basically no adjustment to charging. I've also found that it just takes a few hours to get it back up to 100% (Apple lists 1.5 hours to 80% from empty, and 2 hours to 100%; from 35% about an hour and a half tops it off completely, but it's ready for another full 24 hours with just 1.5 hours).
Now, what would a bit of a monkey wrench in the gears is if the watch needs to be in "exercise mode" (ie, constantly taking heart rate) overnight to detect things like sleep apnea (rather than the standard every-minute-or-so measurement). Apple rates the battery life at about 10 hours of indoor workout (GPS not being used because indoors or iPhone attached), which is more than enough to get through a night but would mean it would need to start at 100% battery or near there when laying down. That means a ~1 hour charge-up in the evening, then sleep with it going, then another ~2 hour charge in the morning, for a perpetual cycle (or a smaller recharge in the morning to get it through the rest of the day for a single-night cycle). Not a terrible inconvenience (see above for "inconvenience"), but not a great experience either.
IMHO, if I was worried about sleep apnea (and I personally am), I'd arrange a few nights with the Apple Watch fully charged to get a sleep study. I've done the standard at-home sleep apnea test, with a cannula strapped to my head, a pulse-ox on my finger, and managing the wires while trying to sleep. It is not pleasant. Wearing a watch overnight and gathering a first-cut diagnosis based on that is a massive quality of life improvement.
As you might imagine, that is highly uncomfortable, and highly disruptive to one's normal sleep patterns (yielding inaccurate results). It is the "state of the art" in first-cut diagnoses of sleep apnea at home.
If that highly-disruptive, expensive, and unwieldy contraption can be replaced with just "wear your watch overnight and send in the results to Deep Heart for analysis" that is a MASSIVE win. Approximately 25% of adult men have sleep apnea; the vast majority (especially those who sleep alone and hence do not have a spouse reporting that they stopped breathing or woke up gasping in the middle of the night) are completely undiagnosed and thus untreated. As the blog post notes, in the US alone sleep apnea drives about $150B per year in direct (treatment) and indirect (accidents, secondary conditions) costs. Getting at that 80% of sleep apnea sufferers who are unaware that they have a problem and treating the problem (which might be lifestyle, sleeping arrangement, or surgical) would be a huge win for society at large.
If this doesn't seem to matter to you because you know you sleep soundly every night, consider that the guy who has undiagnosed sleep apnea might be approaching the intersection you are in from the side, falling asleep at the wheel (one of the most common apnea-related accidents).
My Apple Watch 3 (GPS, non-cellular) lasts easily for two full days (put on in morning, wear through first day, second night, and second day) ending at around 35% when I take it off the second night for charging. That is with 1.5-2 hours of exercise each of those days (as I mentioned above, I suffer from sleep apnea, primarily from nasal opening issues but greatly exacerbated by being overweight, so I'm on a crash course to get my weight back down to the "normal" range). I certainly could use the Apple Watch every other night with basically no adjustment to charging. I've also found that it just takes a few hours to get it back up to 100% (Apple lists 1.5 hours to 80% from empty, and 2 hours to 100%; from 35% about an hour and a half tops it off completely, but it's ready for another full 24 hours with just 1.5 hours).
Now, what would a bit of a monkey wrench in the gears is if the watch needs to be in "exercise mode" (ie, constantly taking heart rate) overnight to detect things like sleep apnea (rather than the standard every-minute-or-so measurement). Apple rates the battery life at about 10 hours of indoor workout (GPS not being used because indoors or iPhone attached), which is more than enough to get through a night but would mean it would need to start at 100% battery or near there when laying down. That means a ~1 hour charge-up in the evening, then sleep with it going, then another ~2 hour charge in the morning, for a perpetual cycle (or a smaller recharge in the morning to get it through the rest of the day for a single-night cycle). Not a terrible inconvenience (see above for "inconvenience"), but not a great experience either.
IMHO, if I was worried about sleep apnea (and I personally am), I'd arrange a few nights with the Apple Watch fully charged to get a sleep study. I've done the standard at-home sleep apnea test, with a cannula strapped to my head, a pulse-ox on my finger, and managing the wires while trying to sleep. It is not pleasant. Wearing a watch overnight and gathering a first-cut diagnosis based on that is a massive quality of life improvement.
i just got a hand-me-down S0 and i found that just leaving it in theater mode all the time pretty much doubles the battery life (from around 12h to 24h). it occurs to me that the watch should have a mode where it still wakes on raise but does not wake the display for every single notification. this would be a nice compromise because as it stands i have to touch the display when i just want to check the time. i wonder what the S3 battery life would be like using theater mode all the time... sounds like it might be 6 days!
The problems are:
1. Most people don't own a pulse-ox sensor, and if you don't have a reason to suspect you need one you won't buy one.
2. The pulse-ox monitor method alone is actually not very effective. It needs to be combined with a chest strap and microphone cannulus to reliably detect apnea events.
3. The pulse-ox monitor is uncomfortable and/or easily falls off (you can make it more comfortable, but then it is also more likely to fall off while turning over in bed). And that is assuming you have a wireless monitor; a wired pulse-ox monitor is a pain to deal with through a night.
The Apple watch (or similar watch-based heart rate sensor) is more and more something people already have. It is, per this study, significantly more effective than pulse-ox alone (although one would expect a pulse-ox sensor's data could be fed into Deep Heart for learning then analysis to drastically improve diagnostic effectiveness). It is comfortable and doesn't fall off in the middle of the night no matter how much you toss and turn.
The first item is the really big one though. Most people with sleep apnea - 4 out of 5! - are not diagnosed and probably have no idea they have it. If the watch they are already wearing could generate a notification like "Last night we saw unusual heart activity which is commonly associated with Sleep Apnea; you should check with your doctor." then perhaps we can get that undiagnosed rate from the current 80% down to 40% and save something like $70B per year in the US alone dealing with secondary effects.
Yes, a blood pressure cuff is a great tool. However, to give an accurate response it needs to be preceded by several minutes of non-movement, the arm being cuffed must be properly situated at heart level, the cuff must be applied correctly, and the patient must remain calm while a loud pump squeezes their arm (especially the home machines often cause a stress which elevates pressure, requiring the user to use an old fashioned hand-pump sphygmomanometer and have a nurse or technician available to administer). A decent home blood pressure cuff will generally run about $50-70 (more for more bells and whistles of course), although I've seen cheapies around the $30 mark.
In contrast the watch data is taken 100% passively, just by the user doing something they are already doing (wearing the watch). No special instructions need to be given. No time of day needs to be set aside to sit next to the blood pressure cuff. No additional cost.
On top of the individual advantages, a single device (the watch or fitness band) is able to diagnose three major issues - arrhythmia, hypertension, and sleep apnea - with first-cut selectivity (ie, "You should consult with your doctor" level of advice), without requiring three separate single-purpose monitoring systems which each cost money and which each are unlikely to be in any individual's home. The point is to diagnose these "silent killer" conditions more often for the folks who don't already suspect they have a problem.
All of those "issues" you referred to with the blood pressure cuff are really minor and definitely not warranted to throw out the device. The data a BP cuff gives you is a direct measurement of the vital sign, and this calculated, theoretical data obtained from the watch app is just that. I certainly wouldn't try to diagnose hypertension with the watch alone, and if I had a patient present this information to me, I'd still tell them to get a "cheapie" blood pressure cuff and keep a record of it at home. I will remain suspicious of this watch app until I've seen it in use and providing helpful data.
Is it "SO true"? My S1 will go 1 1/2 days if it has WIFI and charging tabs a bit over an hour.
I'm not suggesting anyone "throw out" a sphygmomanometer.
Most people don't have one. And if they have one, they don't use it regularly enough to diagnose hypertension. This is a widely known fact in the medical community, reflected by the epidemic levels of undiagnosed hypertension in the US - 11 million undiagnosed cases by one estimate - and the understanding that it is a condition which is most easily and effectively treated early.
Obviously remain skeptical of a singular study which has not been translated into a generalized practice. This isn't even generally available to you no matter how excited you might be about it. On the other side, though, it is also not a worthless study, because if it pans out, it is a huge advance which will result in earlier detection of three deadly conditions each of which with today's technologies - sphygmomanometers and home sleep studies and EKGs - go undetected for far too long with far too many people.
I knew that. I was joking too. (S0?)
The AW3 does last a lot longer, so far. I have been tempted to wear it overnight. The first AW became such a Diva. I had to charge it EVERY NIGHT like, ironically, clockwork or it went tits up at some point, and I wouldn't know it. Oh, and after a long day of riding, it would get tired and flounce at some point in the afternoon. I got to the point I had to wear the watch, and the charging disc connected to a power source to keep it going. Not cool...
I like how you made the word "if" in bold.
A home bp cuff is a lot cheaper than an Apple Watch and gives me more useful data.
I'm a physician and treat hypertension daily.
But the point is that they may already have an Apple Watch for some of its other benefits. And if my Watch could tell me “hey, I detected something odd, go and see your doctor” I can’t see how that is a bad thing.
I have an Apple Watch. If my Watch told me that, and I came to you, I wouldn’t expect you to take what the watch says as gospel. I would fully expect you, as a doctor, to carry out what ever investigation you normally would, including asking me to wear a bp cuff if that is going to give you the information you need to help me.
I don’t think anyone is advocating replacing doctors, or proper medical investigations with a Watch. But if a Watch can detect early signs of problems, and prompt the wearer to seek medical attention, surely that would have benefits?
And my point was that I have seen no data to suggest that this Watch app is actually useful. I never suggested that I would disregard this app, just that a bp cuff is more useful for me. The app really tells me nothing. The only beat-to-beat variability that is proven useful is that if a fetus.
The article doesn't claim that it is useful, just that it is promising, and requires more research.
"Cardiogram says that peer-reviewed clinical research will be necessary to further determine whether wearables are able to screen for major health conditions like sleep apnea and hypertension"
If it was proven to work it would be useful, but it isn't there yet.