Smartwatches can predict higher risk of heart failure: Study

Wearable devices such as smartwatches could help us detect a higher risk of developing heart failure and irregular heart rhythms in later life a study revealsThe peerreviewed study published in The European Heart Journal Digital Health looked at data from 83000 people who had undergone a 15second electrocardiogram ECG comparable to the kind carried out using smartwatches and phone devicesThe researchers identified ECG recordings containing extra heartbeats which are usually benign but if they occur frequently are linked to conditions such as heart failure and arrhythmia irregular heartbeatsThey found that people with an extra beat in this short recording one in 25 of the total had a twofold risk of developing heart failure or an irregular heart rhythm atrial fibrillation over the next 10 yearsThe ECG recordings analysed were from people aged 50 to 70 who had no known cardiovascular disease at the timeHeart failure is a situation where the heart pump is weakened It cannot often be treated Atrial fibrillation happens when abnormal electrical impulses suddenly start firing in the top chambers of the heart atria causing an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate It can be lifelimiting causing problems including dizziness shortness of breath and tiredness and is linked to a fivefold increased risk of strokeLead author Dr Michele Orini UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science said Our study suggests that ECGs from consumergrade wearable devices may help with detecting and preventing future heart diseaseThe next step is to investigate how screening people using wearables might best work in practiceSuch screening could potentially be combined with the use of artificial intelligence and other computer tools to quickly identify the ECGs indicating higher risk as we did in our study leading to a more accurate assessment of risk in the population and helping to reduce the burden of these diseasesSenior author Professor Pier D Lambiase UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science and Barts Heart Centre Barts NHS Health Trust said Being able to identify people at risk of heart failure and arrhythmia at an early stage would mean we could assess higherrisk cases more effectively and help to prevent cases by starting treatment early and providing lifestyle advice about the importance of regular moderate exercise and dietIn an ECG sensors attached to the skin are used to detect the electrical signals produced by the heart each time it beats In clinical settings at least 10 sensors are placed around the body and the recordings are looked at by a specialist doctor to see if there are signs of a possible problem Consumergrade wearable devices rely on two sensors singlelead embedded in a single device and are less cumbersome as a result but may be less accurateFor the new paper the research team used machine learning and an automated computer tool to identify recordings with extra beats These extra beats were classed as either premature ventricular contractions PVCs coming from the lower chambers of the heart or premature atrial contractions PACs coming from the upper chambersThe recordings identified as having extra beats and some recordings that were not judged to have extra beats were then reviewed by two experts to ensure the classification was correctThe researchers first looked at data from 54016 participants of the UK Biobank project with a median age of 58 whose health was tracked for an average of 115 years after their ECG was recorded They then looked at a second group of 29324 participants with a median age of 64 who were followed up for 35 yearsAfter adjusting for potentially confounding factors such as age and medication use the researchers found that an extra beat coming from the lower chambers of the heart was linked to a twofold increase in later heart failure while an extra beat from the top chambers atria was linked to a twofold increase in cases of atrial fibrillationThe study involved researchers at UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL Barts Heart Centre Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University of London It was supported by the Medical Research Council and the British Heart Foundation as well as the NIHR Barts Biomedical Research CentreAlso Read West Bengals Santiniketan on its way to become a UNESCO world heritage siteThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever