2023-08-18 11:30:00
One of the many health resources available on the Apple Watch is the follow-up of cardiovascular fitness levels. Basically, the watch provides an estimate of the level of VO₂ max — that is, the maximum amount of oxygen that a given person’s body consumes during exercise.
Already page detailing the feature, Apple points out that the level of cardiovascular fitness is a strong indicator of health and, therefore, sends notifications whenever a user’s maximum VO₂ level is low. Now, a new study highlighted the importance of features such as the Apple Watch in detecting serious illnesses.
Israeli researchers monitored the health of an apparently healthy 40-year-old man who continually received notifications from his Apple Watch indicating a low level of cardiovascular fitness. According to Apple, sending alerts is persistent if the user’s maximum VO₂ level remains low.
After several tests, researchers discovered that the man suffered from non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM), with severely reduced left ventricular systolic function. The condition occurs when the heart muscles become thin and weakened in at least one chamber of the heart — which causes the chamber’s open area to increase.
The diagnosis may have been an isolated case — the researchers themselves make it clear that there is a lack of studies to corroborate it — but the research indicates that wearables like the Apple Watch can, at least, be used as a screening method to recognize people at potential risk of heart problems and help in the early diagnosis of such diseases.
In any case, it is important to note that a low VO₂ max level is not, by itself, an indication of heart disease. Apple itself says that most people can improve this indicator by increasing the intensity and frequency of exercises, in addition to highlighting that certain conditions or medications can overestimate the data provided by the Apple Watch.
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via AppleInsider
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