Photo: 9to5Mac
Apple smartwatch has once again saved the life of its owner. This time, Ken Cunihan, a resident of Ohio, shared his story: data on the frequency of his breathing and the level of oxygen in the blood notified the man in time about the most dangerous condition.
Cunihan considers himself an avid Apple Watch user, as he uses the watch not only to track workouts, but also to monitor sleep and measure other indicators. In October last year, he noticed that his respiratory rate per minute increased. This was the first sign of potential health problems. The man decided to seek outpatient care, and already in the hospital he was x-rayed and prescribed medicine for bronchitis.
Later that day, Cunihan received another warning of a sharp drop in his blood oxygen (SpO2) levels. He called an ambulance and provided the doctors with all the data from the Apple Watch. Computed tomography revealed the main cause of the symptoms – blood clots in the lungs.
Doctors have prescribed blood thinners for Ken, and already he feels much better. In an interview with local media, he said that it was the Apple Watch that saved his life. If he had gone to bed instead of going to the emergency room, he probably wouldn’t have woken up by now.
Interestingly, in this case, the combination of two health monitoring functions in the Apple Watch at once helped to identify the patient’s illness. Of course, the watch itself cannot warn of a potential blood clot, so the participation of doctors in the diagnosis also plays a big role.
Despite everything, Apple continues to claim that the blood oxygen measurement feature is only for general fitness and wellness purposes.