📱 2022-08-29 22:10:12 – Paris/France.
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The Apple Watch is being used in a study to see if it's possible to reduce the use of expensive blood thinners used to prevent strokes and atrial fibrillation.
The seven-year study, which won $37 million in funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, aims to address the use of blood thinners, a drug typically used to prevent atrial fibrillation (AFib). . It is believed that between 2,5 and 5 million people in the United States are affected by atrial fibrillation, which can potentially lead to stroke, heart failure and death.
Blood thinners are the common method of treatment, but they can cause problems, including dangerous bleeding. Sustained use of blood thinners can be a health risk in itself, and also costly, so reducing their use could help reduce costs for patients and save lives.
A seven-year study, a partnership between the American Heart Association and Northwestern Medicine, will use the Apple Watch to try to do just that, by monitoring patients' hearts. The Apple Watch has an ECG and a number of heart-related notifications, including irregular heartbeat detection, which the study plans to use.
The Rhythm Evaluation for AniCoagulaTion (REACT-AF) trial will compare the existing standard of care for patients with a history of atrial fibrillation against a second group, which will use time-limited anticoagulation that will be provided for a brief period, reports Yahoo! Life. This second group will use the Apple Watch and an associated iPhone app to manage treatment and track progress.
As part of the study, Apple will donate materials and help develop apps for the study to use. This will include a custom algorithm that will check heart rhythms at a higher rate than normal, according to New statistics.
As part of the trial, the Apple Watch will ask patients to take blood thinners if they detect atrial fibrillation for several hours, and to continue doing so until the highest risk of stroke is gone. past. The process will be fully automated, without the intervention of a doctor.
"For many of us physicians who primarily care for patients, we see the inadequacies of some of the treatment recommendations," said Rod S. Passman, director of the Northwestern University Center for Arrhythmia Research. . Passman saw that blood thinners helped many patients, but others did not benefit and ended up in harm's way.
“The concept of targeting individuals during high-risk times grew out of this experience,” Passman added.
Apple's Vice President of Health, Dr. Sumbul Desai, said in a statement, "Heart health has always been at the heart of Apple Watch and we're excited to explore another opportunity for powerful heart sensors. Apple Watch to help patients better manage their AFib treatment through the REACT-AF study. »
If successful, the trial could be hugely beneficial to Apple, which has repeatedly promoted core-related features in its wearable device. It has also been credited with saving many lives with its characteristics and has also been used in a number of other health studies.
The Apple Watch has already been used in an Apple Heart study in collaboration with Stanford Medicine, although this study was used to analyze the use of the technology generally, rather than a specific medical use case. .
Another Heartline study from Johnson & Johnson and Apple is also looking at ECG and irregular rhythm notifications and whether the risk of stroke can be reduced.
SOURCE: Reviews News
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