Oklahoma Woman's Apple Watch Predicted Irregular Heartbeat

Friday, October 11th 2019, 10:28 pm

By: Justin Shrair

A doctor says an Oklahoma woman's Apple Watch correctly detected an irregular heartbeat, which could have led to a stroke.

Rhonda Tower, who is a coach, gym owner, and CrossFit athlete says the simple warning convinced her to get treatment.

"I noticed that my heart rate was up and I just felt tired out of breath," Tower said.

Rhonda says she went to bed, and felt great the next morning, but had a warning she wasn't expecting from her Apple Watch.

"It said 'it looks like you have an irregular heart rhythm last night and if you have not been diagnosed with AFIB you should see you doctor,'" she said.

When she got treated by doctors, they told her she had atrial fibrillation - a condition where a heart beat is irregular.

"Stroke, congestive heart failure, these are the biggest things that we are concerned about," Dr. David Sandler said.

Sandler, who discharged her from the E.R. that day, says this type of technology has the ability to help a lot of people.

"This was a great example of the device correctly diagnosing her with the arrhythmia and getting her in contact with the people that can fix her," Sandler said.

"I think we should look at the Apple Watch and its ability to detect atrial fibrillation as another tool in our tool box, I don't think that google or your Apple Watch is going to replace your doctor"

Tower has since had surgery. She is back in the gym but advises people to "pay attention to what your body is telling you."