Smart for Your Heart: The Cardiac Capabilities of Smartwatches

The best way to monitor your heart health is to check in regularly with your doctor, but in-between visits, your smartwatch can play a crucial role in alerting you to potentially serious conditions. 

Dr. Mohamed Kanjwal, director of cardiac electrophysiology at Sinai Hospital, explains that many patients have come to him in response to heart health alerts on their smartwatches and that these devices have “revolutionized the diagnosis and management of arrythmias.” 

Heart health alerts indicating cardiac arrythmia can assist in diagnosing atrial fibrillation (AFIB), one of the most common conditions treated by Dr. Kanjwal and his team. AFIB is a serious condition which commonly leads to stroke if untreated. For this reason, Dr. Kanjwal stresses the importance of sharing your device’s heart data with your doctor, adding that the device can play a role not only in diagnosis, but also in treatment, helping to determine if a procedure or medication has been successful. These devices can help diagnose several other conditions besides AFIB and can alert users to potential issues such as fast or slow heartrate and extra heartbeats. 

The heart health capabilities of smartwatches make your doctor’s job easier, providing constant monitoring outside the hospital and without an internal device. Dr. Kanjwal encourages these devices for all, but especially for elderly people and other high-risk groups. When it comes to the heart monitoring capabilities of smartwatches such as the Apple Watch and FitBit, Dr. Kanjwal does not mince words: “This is going to be the future.”