Use of fitness watches for detection of arrhythmias and other cardiac conditions

Watches no longer just tell the time – now, they can answer phone calls, show you text notifications, and thanks to their prime location right on the wrist, they can track physical activity through your heart rate, and may be suited to detect arrhythmias or other heart problems. In this article, a leading cardiologist explores the benefits and disadvantages of fitness watches in the monitoring of heart health.

There are specific watches that are a popular accessory for those involved in their fitness. They are installed with features and applications to track the number of steps taken, level of activity, heart rate, oxygen level, and amount of sleep. Some models will also have blood pressure monitoring and single-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs) to monitor the heart’s electrical activity more thoroughly.

How can fitness watches be used to detect abnormal heart activity?

Those with the single-lead ECG are able to note abnormal rhythms, or arrhythmias, like atrial fibrillation. Abnormal heart rhythms can be indicative of a wide variety of heart problems and diseases, having a record of them can be helpful for future diagnosis. However, this can depend on how the watch is worn and the type of physical activity that is being undertaken. These watches will also note harmless extra heartbeats, called ectopic beats, but will be unable to differentiate them from arrhythmias, nor can they detect other kinds of cardiac conditions. Furthermore, single-lead EGCs are not as accurate or detailed as the EGCs that patients normally receive as administered by a doctor in proper medical facilities. Their accuracy can vary depending on what is being monitored and the amount of activity that is occurring, and the computers inside may not be complex enough to keep up.

A great benefit of fitness watches is that they keep a record of the heart rate when the wearer is going about their daily lives, so when the wearer feels something unusual with their heart, they can say the exact time they felt the abnormality, and the watch will record the activity. The wearer is then able to take the data to their doctor which can be vital for diagnosis or investigation of their condition.

The risks of using fitness watches

However, it is best to use the fitness watch for a record of overall trends rather than reacting to one-off reading. Relying too much on a fitness watch can make you anxious, which can alter your heart rate (palpitations) and lead to skewed perceptions of health.

Those with implanted devices like pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) can have their watch interact with the fitness watches, specifically those with bioimpedance sending, which can disrupt the function of the implantable devices. Bioimpedance sending involves sending small electrical signals into the body and interpreting the signals that come back to estimate things like body fat percentage, heart rate, and stress levels. These small electrical signals can interfere with the function of the implantable devices which can have disastrous consequences, such as causing a pacemaker to stop regulating the heartbeat or the ICD to release an unnecessary electric shock to the heart. It is important to keep this in mind and to make cautious, aware, decisions.

If you are experiencing heart issues, consult with a cardiologist on Top Doctors today.