Apple Health

The Apple Watch Series 4 ECG functionality expanded to Europe just last week, but it’s already being credited with saving a user’s life. As detailed by The Sun, an Apple Watch user in Germany discovered that he suffered from Afib through his Apple Watch, after initially writing the ECG feature off as something only “for hypochondriacs.”

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple today released watchOS 5.2 to the public, and the update includes the expansion of ECG support to a handful of new countries. With today’s expansion, ECG on Apple Watch Series 4 is now available in over 20 countries and territories around the world.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Update: Now available.

The latest version of the Apple Watch operating system, watchOS 5.2, will be made available to all customers later today. The update should be available over-the-air through the Watch app on iOS soon. This update comes two days after Apple released iOS 12.2, tvOS 12.2, and macOS 10.14.4 to all customers, after its special event on Monday.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Since its introduction with the Apple Watch Series 4, the ECG feature has been available only for Apple Watches purchased in the United States. The only way for users from other regions to get access to the feature was to purchase the device in the US, but more recent changes to the software have made even that workaround impractical.

Expand
Expanding
Close

I started running in 2016 in part to test the newly added GPS feature on the Apple Watch that year. Series 2 hardware was the first to let you accurately track outdoor workout distances with mapped routes without carrying the iPhone, even if cellular wouldn’t come for one more version. The same Apple Watch generation introduced the Nike+ version of the hardware with the Nike Run Club app heavily promoted, so I started tracking runs with NRC…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Over the weekend, Apple and Stanford Medicine published the full results from the Apple Watch Heart Study. In conjunction with that publication, Apple’s VP of Health Dr. Sumbul Desai has offered additional detail in a new interview with Men’s Health.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Tim Cook has touted that Apple’s “greatest contribution to mankind” will be health-related, and it’s clear the company has an ever-increasing interest in the health industry. Today, Loup Ventures is out with a closer look at how Apple’s wearable business and heath features will affect its long-term business, while also pitching an Apple healthcare subscription.

Expand
Expanding
Close

We’ve been testing the developer beta of iOS 12.2 since its first release back in late January. Since then, we’ve learned that the new version includes support for unreleased AirPods with “Hey, Siri” support and also found evidence of the rumored Apple News subscription service. In this post, I’ll highlight some under-the-hood changes that may or may not end up in the final release, but are interesting nonetheless.

Expand
Expanding
Close

A new program called Connected Maternity Online Monitoring (MOM) at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans is seeing success with giving smart health monitoring devices to pregnant women. Notably, the O Bar which gets patients set up with devices free of charge was modeled after Apple’s Genius Bar and the program is set up to work with HealthKit.

Expand
Expanding
Close

As Apple has increased its push into the heath industry, it has also started increasing its focus on user privacy. A new report from NPR dives into Apple’s focus on privacy as it relates to health, with Tim Cook calling privacy a “key part” of health data.

Expand
Expanding
Close

It’s clear that Apple has been serious about health over the past several years, especially with devices such as the Apple Watch literally saving lives. Apple CEO Tim Cook has been fairly public about the company wanting to change the world with its health initiatives. Today, Apple VP of Health Dr. Sumbul Desai sat down with MobiHealthNews to talk more about Apple’s foray into health.

Expand
Expanding
Close

We’ve heard several stories thus far about the Apple Watch’s ECG functionality saving people’s lives. Now, an Apple Watch user in Washington has credited his Apple Watch with alerting him that his atrial fibrillation had returned.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple is holding a string of heart health-related events at its retail stores this month in honor of Heart Month. Last night, such an event was held at Apple’s Union Square store in San Francisco, and the company’s health vice president Sumbul Desai was in attendance. Desai talked about the Apple Heart Study and more.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple has announced that it will soon support accessing digital health records for veterans through the Health app on iPhone. The development is part of a new agreement with the US Department of Veterans.

“We have great admiration for veterans, and we’re proud to bring a solution like Health Records on iPhone to the veteran community,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “It’s truly an honor to contribute to the improved healthcare of America’s heroes.”

Health record-sharing supports easily and securely viewing official “immunizations, lab results, medications, and vitals” from your healthcare provider all in one place on the iPhone. Apple says health records are secured through encryption and accessible only with a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID (fingerprint or facial recognition).

Expand
Expanding
Close

As its health efforts continue to expand, Apple has reportedly hired a prominent obstetrician-gynecologist. CNBC reports that Apple has hired Dr. Christine Curry to join its growing health team, signaling an interest in women’s health.

Expand
Expanding
Close

We’ve reported several times about the Apple Watch Series 4’s ECG functionality alerting unsuspecting users to seek medical attention.  In addition to ECG, however, the Series 4 has a fall detection functionality. That feature is what one Norweigan Apple Watch user credits with saving his life.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple is holding special Today at Apple sessions at three major US Apple Stores as part of its participation in Heart Month.

The events are in addition to the Apple Watch Activity Challenge which begins on February 8 …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple has been slowly but surely growing hiring rates for jobs related to “health” fields. The company’s job openings with the word specifically mentioned in the career title have increased 400% as the company continues to view health as its “greatest contribution to mankind”.

According to new data by Thinknum, Apple has 75 open job listings with the word “health” in the career title, as compared to just 15 openings in October 2017.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple is partnering with pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson to study whether the Apple Watch can be used to diagnose increased risk of a stroke.

A stroke is when poor blood flow in the brain results in brain damage. Common symptoms include partial paralysis, partial loss of vision and difficulties speaking or understanding speech …

Expand
Expanding
Close