Smart watch for heart monitoring

[fellerr]

Anyone use a smart watch for heart monitoring purposes? Have had some intermittent heart issues. Checked out with the doc and everything checked out fine. He mentioned some people wearing apple watches to monitor their heart rate and rhythm. Heart issues and afib run rampant in my family, so thought it might not be a bad idea to try it to monitor. Did a little googling and sounds like they are fairly accurate, but thought someone might have first hand knowledge about it here!

 

[KChunter71]

My dad uses the newer Apple Watch to update him if he is in a fib. It really does work for him.

 

[wyogoat]

I’ve been a high level competitive cyclist most of my life and wear a chest sensor monitor daily. I can tell you the Garmin Instinct is NOT an accurate measure of your HR as a wrist mounted device. Way off.
Maybe the Apple is a better option.

 

[tony]

Just bought an Amazfit T Rex 3. Does what you want and a whole lot more.
In general use the battery lasts close to a month. I’m still playing with all the features.

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us.amazfit.com

 

[tdhanses]

Apple Watch Ultra has a bunch of health indicators it can track, even has an ecg and blood oxygen sensor.

I use it to track meds, steps, calories, heart, sound levels, active energy, resting energy, active heart, resting heart, sleep, physical effort, blood oxygen, standing mins, exercise mins, walking speed, stairs, heart rate variability, time in daylight, respiratory rate, wrist temp baseline and vitals. I think it can also do blood pressure.

 

[ztc92]

I work in healthcare as a family physician. I am NOT a cardiologist but have some experience in this realm. To my knowledge, the Apple Watch and some competitors are able to identify the specific heart rhythm of atrial fibrillation (a-fib). Beyond that, I don’t believe they can do other interpretations but they may alert you that your heart rhythm is “irregular” and suggest you see a medical provider.

I occasionally have patients come in due to these alerts and often the watch is correct regarding a-fib. There are some other less concerning rhythms can mimic a-fib and that’s why it’s best to get a formal EKG or wear a holter monitor once the watch detects something is off.

For what it’s worth, A-fib is a very important issue to identify as the heart beat in a-fib allows blood to pool in the atrium (top chambers) and this pooling of blood has the potential to form blood clots that can result in strokes and other complications. This is why most people with a-fib are on blood thinners unless they have a reason not to be.

To your question - I think a watch can be a great warning sign that something is off but it doesn’t replace a proper assessment with a medical provider. Another technology you could consider is the at-home EKG machines that use signal from your fingertips. I don’t know a lot about them but recall reading they are more accurate than a wearable such as a watch.

I don’t know much about them but this is one is see advertised often. I have no interest in the company or product and don’t know anyone who has used one. If interested, I’d talk to your doctor about the pros/cons.

Personal EKG Devices by AliveCor

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[Marbles]

They are ok, can be a nice data point if a patient brings in the tracing. I would not make a diagnosis off what the algorithm says.

You can also look at KardiaMobile if a smart watch is not something you actually want.

 

[mtnbound]

I have used different Garmin watches for years and the wrist only HR are not very accurate so I always use it with a chest strap monitor for best accuracy. I would not trust it for situation.

 

[Maddog58]

I use my Apple Watch and it monitors my heart rate pretty close.

 

[307]

Anyone use a smart watch for heart monitoring purposes? Have had some intermittent heart issues. Checked out with the doc and everything checked out fine. He mentioned some people wearing apple watches to monitor their heart rate and rhythm. Heart issues and afib run rampant in my family, so thought it might not be a bad idea to try it to monitor. Did a little googling and sounds like they are fairly accurate, but thought someone might have first hand knowledge about it here!

The most important thing to know is that they are not a medical device. They have limitations, and are not intended to diagnose, nor to replace proper evaluation and monitoring.

However, they're pretty good IMO as a monitoring device at the non-medical level. IOW, as long as you know their limitations and keep that in mind when considering the data they produce, they can be very useful.

If I had your family history, I'd absolutely wear one.

 

[Jskaanland]

The Garmin optical ones on early gens, probably not accurate enough to go off of. I've done some side by sides with a chest strap vs my Fenix 6. I did that after a buddy in the high level athletic training space laughed as we were hiking and I told him my heart rate based off my watch.

Garmin has a new sensor on the Epix Pro 2 and I think the Fenix 7. I'm not sure what the reliability is on it.

 

[fellerr]

Thanks everyone for the great input. I did see my local family doc. Ekg was fine. Just given how I have felt a few times and my family history (multiple people with heart issues), I figured a monitor would be a good idea. Hopefully it is just stress/anxiety related, but having something to monitor it in those situations might give me/doctor a better idea of when it is happening.

 

[timekiller13]

Apple Watch.

I worked with one of the most renowned EP docs (electrophysiologist) on the east coast and he recommends them to all of his patients.

 

[*zap*]

Hope it works out for you. I have used a Suunto with a chest strap extensively but just for heart rate. It worked well.

 

[Beendare]

I have Afib. I know when I have it, I can feel it....I have buddies that didn't know until they had a heart monitor on when riding the bike [the chest strap and monitor]

My Apple Watch is just OK. A finger tip HR/Oximeter like the nurses and docs use to check your HR work are excellent- LINK to Amazon


The Kardia Mobile app works well too...but the finger monitor are the best IMO, plus it gives you your O2 level

As an aside, I called about 10 guys I used to swim and play Water Polo with in College and 2/3rds have Afib. It seems to be more prevalent with men that did endurance type sports when young. [my take, not scientific]

Worth noting if you don't know about AFIB- don't be afraid of it but get it diagnosed asap. Nobody dies from AFIB...but they can throw a clot that can really screw you up. Docs put you meds like on Metoprolol and Predaxa (blood thinner)....you just have to be careful you don't slice yourself when you have an elk or deer down- especially on solo hunts like I do.

AFIB can be solved. They can map the rogue electrical signal making your HB irregular and have an ablation. I know a bunch of guys that had that done successfully.

Hope that helps.

 

[Marbles]

I have used different Garmin watches for years and the wrist only HR are not very accurate so I always use it with a chest strap monitor for best accuracy. I would not trust it for situation.

The OP should be looking at watches with an EKG (also called ECG by those who don't respect tradition) feature. An optical HR, or a manually taken pulse, or the pulse from a BP cuff is pretty worthless for knowing what is going on. You want a tracing of the electrical activity. I see less than 0 value in an optical only monitor for what the OP wants, it can cause undue worry, but will never provide data that can actually lead to an answer.

Some times an optical monitor will pick up the diacritic notch and double the heart rate, and sometimes, particularly in A-fib, they will miss weak heart beats and vastly under estimate the rate. Basically, you can have an electrically fast beat that results in a slow detectable pulse as mechanically the muscle cannot respond fast enough. What you do to treat the low pulse depends on the electrical activity causing it.