February is Heart Health Month, and for millions at risk of stroke, a simple tap on the wrist could one day save lives. New studies from the Amsterdam University Medical Center and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London show that wearables, like the Apple Watch, can improve atrial fibrillation detection compared with standard care. Atrial fibrillation, often referred to as A-fib, is a heart arrhythmia, which means an irregular or abnormal heartbeat. The condition can cause blood clots and is one of the leading causes of a stroke.

The Amsterdam study enrolled 437 patients aged 65 or older with elevated stroke risk and required 219 of them to wear an Apple Watch to track their heart rate for 12 hours a day for 6 months. The remaining 218 patients didn’t wear a watch and relied on standard care.

The experiment detected heart arrhythmias four times more frequently in patients wearing an Apple Watch versus those not wearing one. Specific versions of the Apple Watch use photoplethysmography, a heart rate-detecting LED light sensor, and have a built-in single-lead electrocardiogram sensor to read your heart rate.

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Wearables that track your heart rate or other health markers aren’t new, and previous studies have shown promise in detecting A-fib. Although wearables wearables are known to track this type of data, no prior research has examined how well they detect potential health risks for A-fib.

“We saw that after six months we diagnosed and treated 21 patients in the group wearing the smartwatch, of whom 57% were asymptomatic,” Michiel Winter, a cardiologist at Amsterdam UMC, says in a statement. “This was against just five diagnoses in the group receiving standard care, all of whom experienced symptoms.”

The second clinical study, conducted by St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, shows that the Apple Watch could also be beneficial for detecting A-fib symptoms earlier and for monitoring patients after a standard treatment, like a catheter ablation. The hospital found that patients could record clinical-grade ECGs on their Apple Watches at home when experiencing symptoms.

Similar to the first study, the hospital found that patients wearing an Apple Watch detected A-fib earlier and more frequently than those receiving standard care. Catching symptoms earlier also reduces anxiousness and the likelihood that a patient will need to be hospitalized.

The findings from these studies show that people can use wearables such as the Apple Watch for long-term heart screening to detect heart health abnormalities and improve patient care for those in treatment. And it can help diagnose those who don’t know they have the condition.

A cardiology professor weighs in

“Smartwatches like the Apple Watch can be helpful for some patients, especially those with palpitations or irregular heartbeats, as they may capture rhythm abnormalities that need further evaluation,” Dr. Eugene Yang, professor of cardiology and medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, tells CNET. “The main advantage is the convenience of wearable monitoring, which can reliably identify atrial fibrillation and alert both patients and clinicians, prompting timely evaluation and treatment as demonstrated in this study.”

However, Yang doesn’t recommend these readings for everyone and points out these studies focused on a specific group of patients with known atrial fibrillation. “(The study) findings do not apply to most people, making clinician-guided evaluation especially important,” he adds.

While individuals who are mostly healthy may not need to worry as much about these readings, Yang agrees wearables have their place. “These studies add to growing evidence that wearable devices like the Apple Watch can reliably detect atrial fibrillation and help prompt earlier evaluation and treatment,” he says.

However, Yang warns that wearable standards for tracking other health measures, such as blood pressure, still need further research before patients can use them confidently in clinical care.

If you have concerns about your heart, especially if you’re experiencing symptoms, it’s recommended that you seek an evaluation from a clinician. “Using smartwatches with PPG and ECG functions aids doctors in diagnosing individuals unaware of their arrhythmia, thereby expediting the diagnostic process,” Winter says.