Monitoring our health: sometimes, keeping it simple has its advantages
A good article in The Wall Street Journal, “Apple Watch is becoming doctors’ favorite medical device”, outlines a reality I predicted a long time ago, when Apple began positioning its watch as a health device able to monitor certain vital signs: the advantages of something that can be worn pretty much 24/7 are enormous. Which is why more and more cardiologists are turning to the Apple Watch as a way to keep tabs on their patients.
I speak from experience: my cardiologist, an expert on arrhythmias in general and atrial fibrillation in particular, recommended I buy and carry a Kardia device on me, which I have kept updated over time: I started with the Kardia Mobile, the only one available back then, which can carry out an electrocardiogram by simply placing your fingers on it, and later on I moved on to the Kardia Mobile 6L, which you need to rest on your knee (not easy for those who’ve succumbed to the fashion for tight trousers :-) or on the ankle, but which does a much more complete and high-quality six-lead electrocardiogram. I do an ECG very occasionally, and it practically always gives me a sinus rhythm reading, which puts my mind at rest.
Nobody dies of an arrhythmia, and one should only be alarmed if it continues for more than a couple of hours, and for the moment, I have rarely resorted to…
