Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In 'Promising' Study Apple Watch Did Detect Heart-Rhythm Disorder In Some, But False Alarms Show 'We Have A Ways To Go'
A massive new study found that the pulse sensor in Apple Inc.鈥檚 watch helped detect a heart-rhythm disorder in a small number of users but may have caused false alarms for others. The study鈥檚 mixed findings hinted at the potential of 鈥渨earable鈥 gadgets to detect asymptomatic health conditions in people that might otherwise go unnoticed. But doctors said the potential false positives and other aspects of the study show that people should be cautious about relying on the technology as diagnostic tools. (Loftus, 3/16)
Has a new bar been set for wearable technologies? An Apple Watch may detect heart rate irregularities that subsequent medical tests confirm to be atrial fibrillation, according to preliminary findings from a new study. AFib is often undiagnosed since it might not cause noticeable symptoms, but it contributes to 130,000 deaths and 750,000 hospitalizations in the United States each year. (Scutti, 3/16)
鈥淭he results of the Apple Heart Study highlight the potential role that innovative digital technology can play in creating more predictive and preventive health care,鈥 Lloyd Minor, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine, said in a statement. (Frazin, 3/16)
鈥淭he findings are exciting and encouraging, but clearly there is a lot more to be done,鈥 said Lloyd Minor, dean of Stanford鈥檚 medical school. The study could help pave the way for more research into how modern digital tools can help improve health. (Langreth, 3/16)
鈥淭he important thing here is that only 0.5 percent of people were getting notified,鈥 said Dr. Marco Perez, an associate professor at Stanford University and one of the lead investigators of the study. 鈥淚f you look at the young people, it was 0.16 percent. The notification rates are really low. These are needles in a haystack.鈥 (Herper, 3/16)
Results from a study conducted by Stanford researchers working with Apple showed that using the Apple Watch to detect atrial fibrillation probably won鈥檛 cause an epidemic of worrisome diagnoses. But it didn鈥檛 really answer most of the questions doctors or consumers have about using the watch in this way. But Apple is taking the next step, teaming with Johnson & Johnson to a conduct a study of 180,000 people over the age of 65 to get a better understanding of the Apple Watch鈥檚 impact on health. (Herper, 3/16)
