UPDATE March 20, 2019:  The results of the “Apple Heart Study” were just released at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.  Read my comment at the end of this post for an update.

Today, Apple released its ECG app and irregular heart rhythm notification feature.

The announcement about the technology was made with great fanfare a couple of months ago, when Apple also revealed that the device had received approval by the FDA.  This raised some eyebrows because—according to some—the technology was being approved and released to the public without evidence of effectiveness or harm.

What is so unique and novel about the product is that it claims to be able to detect atrial fibrillation, or “a.fib,” which is a common irregularity of the heart rhythm.  A.fib is not usually fatal but it can be a problem for two reasons.

First, the arrhythmia causes and irregularity and rapidity of the pulse that can provoke palpitations and also impair the pumping capacity of the heart.  This typically causes symptoms, so that people who develop a.fib typically become aware of the problem and seek medical attention relatively promptly.

But not everybody is necessarily aware that they have a.fib.Read more

Your heart health in a heartbeat _ Episode 3

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello Everyone,

Today I’d like to talk about a topic that has nothing to do with heart disease, but one which I think should be of interest to athletes and to people who do intense exercise and sports.  The topic is “water intoxication.”

I bring that up because a young man came to Athletic Heart SF just the other day to be evaluated. He had had really bad symptoms during an intense workout, and there was a concern it might be his heart, but we figured out that the most likely cause of his symptoms was water intoxication.Read more

Image attribution: “MF-180” by Pascal. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The topic of the pulse rate is one that our patients and healthy athletes frequently bring to our attention.

With the increased availability of wearable monitors, the optimal exercise heart rate has become an almost universal subject of conversation, not only in the athletic community but also among those who are just embarking on an exercise program.

In general, people are interested in the pulse rate in 2 situations:  the resting pulse rate, best measured upon waking in the morning, and the pulse rate during sustained aerobic exercise, such as running or cycling.  Today we will address the pulse rate during exercise and leave the resting pulse rate for a separate article.

So what is the physiologic meaning of the exercise pulse rate?  Is there a pulse rate one should aim for?  What if the rate falls outside the target zone?  Can the pulse rate ever be a clue to a cardiovascular problem?  Let’s take these questions one by one.Read more

While we strongly promote prevention of heart disease through screening and early detection, we also wish everyone to be educated about the symptoms that could indicate an active cardiovascular problem.

A meeting was convened in October 2012 by the American College of Cardiology’s subsection on Sports and Exercise Cardiology.  The proceedings from that meeting, entitled “Protecting the Heart of the American Athlete,” were just published.  Here are the highlights that deal with 5 common symptoms of heart disease in athletes.Read more