Settings for Apple Watch.
David Phelan
File this under “knowledge is power”. A nursing student in Australia has posted to TikTok that she could have spotted her thyroid condition before she was diagnosed if she’d had more Apple Watch notifications turned on.
As reported in the The Independent, Lauren, whose TikTok ID is @studyvlogoz, posted a video explaining some of the Watch’s key health features and suggests that if she’d had more notifications on, she’d have known what was going on sooner. You can see the video at the bottom of this post.
“A couple of weeks ago, I got diagnosed with a thyroid condition, she says in the video. “But I would have realised something was going on if my Apple alerted me of changes. Instead of me waiting for the symptoms to get really bad, I could have gone to the doctor back in October, when there was this dramatic drop in a matter of days.” Instead, her diagnosis came months later.
She points out that her oxygen consumption took a sudden and dramatic drop and that this correlated with other symptoms such as fatigue and an irregular heart rate and what she describes as serious sensitivity to heat.
While warning that the Watch is “definitely not something you should follow as medical advice,” she also urges Watch users to have health notifications turned on, specifically Low Heart Rate Notifications, High Heart Rate Notifications, Irregular Rhythm Notifications and Cardio Fitness Levels. “It can come in handy, I guess, as a tool to prompt you to go get things investigated further,” she says.
These notifications are easily checked: go to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, choose My Watch, then Heart and see what notifications are turned on.
The Watch is pretty smart: you won’t get a high heart rate notification if you’re exercising, for instance, if the heart rate is higher than normal but within expected parameters for your workout. But if your heart rate is high while you’re sitting still, it’ll let you know.
Of course, there could be a simple reason for this, like you’re watching a scary movie (in which case the buzz as the notification appears might make you jump!) but you’ll know what to do with the information.
One of the benefits of devices like the Apple Watch is that they are always on the owner’s wrist, providing a way of data-gathering that’s constant and effortless – the Watch does all the work retrieving data, there’s no input required from the wearer.
Another benefit is that having your heart rate checked by your doctor can itself be a stressful moment which causes your heart rate to elevate. This measurement done in the background is stress-free.
Thyroid issues like Lauren’s are comparatively rare, but knowing that your Apple Watch is quietly keeping an eye on your health can be comforting in itself. Finally, here’s Lauren’s TikTok.
