Apple Watch spotted AFib in a 22-year-old despite there being no symptoms

Apple Watch Afib Notification
Apple Watch Afib Notification (Image credit: u/Merrick63)

What you need to know

  • An Apple Watch Series 4 wearer was alerted to a suspect heart rhythm.
  • After visiting the ER atrial fibrillation was confirmed.
  • They're now booked to see a cardiologist this week.

There have already been plenty of instances of Apple Watches saving the lives of people wearing them and there could be another to add to the growing list right here. Redditor Merrick63 yesterday shared details about their own experience of having an Apple Watch Series 4 warn of a potential heart condition.

According to the post and accompanying photo, their Apple Watch warned that an irregular heart rhythm had been detected and that it was "suggestive of atrial fibrillation". Otherwise known as AFib, the condition is described by the Mayo Clinic as "an irregular and often rapid heart rate that can increase your risk of strokes, heart failure and other heart-related complications."

My series 4 watch helped me discover that I may have a congenital heart condition. ER confirmed AFIB and I will be seeing a cardiologist later this week. I don't know if I would've noticed otherwise...

The poster says that no issues were found following a blood test but that they have been placed on medication as a precaution. Hopefully, this will turn out to be nothing once a cardiologist has investigated!

They tested my blood and said everything looks normal. It's also been roughly 48 hours and it hasn't gone away.

Apple added support for AFib notifications in Apple Watch Series 1 and all later models also support it. If you receive a message regarding your heart rhythm it's vital you speak with a medical professional as soon as possible.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.