If you have a smartwatch, it surely has the function of measuring your heart rate, even the cheapest ones come with it. However, higher models sell the feature that theirs perform electrocardiograms (ECG). Now, are they really reliable? Are the results real?
Today we are going to analyze everything we know about them in order to be confident when interpreting the results and knowing which data we can obtain in a real way and which are indicative.
Does my watch indicate the heart rate correctly?
The first thing we will have to check is if our smartwatch registers the pulses correctly, if not, it will no longer be necessary to continue to demonstrate that it is impossible for it to perform an electrocardiogram satisfactorily. To do this it is very simple, we will only have to measure them manually and see that they are close to the value that the watch shows us.
Once we know that we can at least rely on that, it’s time to move on to the EGC. There are many models that exist. We will do a test with the Apple Watch Series 8, supposedly the best of the moment. Here we leave you the results.
According to Apple’s own device, we are not suffering from any type of heart problem, however, does that mean we are not having a heart attack? Well then, We contact a specialist doctor from SESPA (Health Service of the Principality of Asturias) from where he tells us the following.
The measurement of a device with these characteristics is real, and seeing the previous result (the image) it can perfectly detect a heart attack, since the waves are clear and would not be like that, nor could it be generated in an invented way, if it were not real.
So, great isn’t it? But it’s not over yet, there’s a small detail missing.
However, what it is giving us is the derivation of our left or right arm, wherever we have the clock. That does not mean that we are not suffering a heart attack in another part of the body. The electros that we use show 12. Therefore, I would believe the reliability if it tells us that we are suffering from it, but not the other way around, because it cannot measure the entire body in a single point.
In summary, its effectiveness is real, however, we cannot depend on it to prevent a heart problem.
A doctor from the Madrid public health service explains on YouTube How could we perform a complete ECG and thus being able to truly know the real state of our heart, however, it is a bit tedious and by the time we finish, we may no longer feel well if we are really suffering a heart attack. We leave it to you because it is also curious.
It seems interesting, but we say the same thing again, it is not realistic and except by chance, we will not be able to prevent anything with it. Neither now nor ever, no matter how much the systems improve, would we need a device for each part of the body. At least we know that The Apple Watch generates a derivation almost identical to a real onebut of course, only the first of them.
