February is American Heart Month, a time when people are encouraged to focus on their cardiovascular health, and many people are using smartwatches and other portable electronic devices to monitor their heart health.
Highland County Health Commissioner Jared Warner said he recommends staying informed about your heart health. “The more we know about your own health usually the better off we are, and it allows us to make smart decisions and seek more medical attention if something looks strange,” he said.
Warner said he did not have a lot of information on smartwatches, but said the Highland County Health Department is offering free lipid panel screening throughout the month of February
Dr. Laxmi Mehta, a non-invasive cardiologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said the devices can absolutely help with your heart health, and she takes a look at her own smartwatch to see if anything is amiss if she feels like her heartbeat is a bit off.
“The devices can be helpful in terms of helping identify abnormal rhythms that people may be experiencing, so if someone’s heart is racing or skipping beats, they can check their heart rates with it,” said Mehta. “Some of the devices can look at the heart rhythm like a mini EKG, and that can be helpful, and the devices also help by telling you how much sleep you’re getting and if it is adequate.”
She said sleep and exercise are highly connected to heart health. “The devices can also give you an idea of how many steps you’re taking in a day, and that is helpful as well.”
Mehta said sometimes the devices can detect issues that have not been found by hospital tests. “Depending on the patient, devices that can catch their heart rhythm might be good for them if they’re experiencing palpitations and we haven’t found anything on them yet or they are just so infrequent – that would be helpful in certain patients,” she said. “In patients who say they are fatigued all day, sometimes getting a device that can monitor how much sleep they are getting is important and monitoring how deep their sleep is is important as well.”
She said she has had patients that testing didn’t detect any problems with, but a smart device alerted a woman to atrial fibrillation. “Other times the devices might notice a PBC, which is an extra or an early heartbeat, and that is also helpful,” said Mehta.
In general, Mehta recommended people see their physician to determine their blood pressure, cholesterol levels, glucose level and body mass index. She also recommended at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity per week, healthy meals, not smoking and getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night.
Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.
