Apple Watch Has Mixed Results in Big Heart Study

Pulse monitor helped detect a small number of people with the heart-rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation, but doctors expressed concern about its accuracy and the risk of unnecessary treatments.

 Catch the Rhythm

Marked by racing, irregular heartbeats, the inherited arrhythmia known as CPVT is typically silent until a child suddenly collapses and faints at an average age of 12. The trigger is an adrenaline surge caused by exercise or emotional stress. The condition, catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, is a leading cause of sudden death from cardiac arrest in children and young adults.

 Management of tachyarrhythmias: Out of Breath

Heart rates >140 are generally considered to be pathologic as this is when cardiac output begins to decrease.

Did Beethoven have an irregular heartbeat? Diagnosing the composer through his music

Many scientists have speculated that Beethoven had an arrhythmia (an abnormal heart rhythm), and some of his music is evidence of that. It seems that certain parts of the opening of the Piano Sonata in E-flat major (Opus 81a) were “transpositions” of irregular heart rhythms.

Should Your Watch Monitor Your Heart?

Apple’s new watch can screen for heart problems. But doctors are increasingly worried about the dangers of testing healthy people for disease.

Wearable Heart Rhythm Monitors: Which One, When, and Why?

Wearable heart rhythm monitors range from smartphone trackers to sophisticated implantable monitors. Their capabilities differ as do their use cases.

A ‘Game Changer’ for Patients With Irregular Heart Rhythm

What made the new method possible was the fusion of two techniques. The first, stereotactic radiation, is used at some medical centers to treat cancer patients. It employs a highly focused and intense beam of radiation to destroy tumors. The other technique maps the heart to pinpoint the exact location of scar tissue.

Apple Heart Study

The Apple Heart Study app uses data from Apple Watch to identify irregular heart rhythms, including those from potentially serious heart conditions such as atrial fibrillation. Apple is conducting this research study in collaboration with Stanford Medicine to improve the technology used to detect and analyze irregular heart rhythms, like atrial fibrillation - a leading cause of stroke.

Apple Watch ECG app: What cardiologists want you to know

We've read the fine print -- and consulted experts -- about Apple's irregular heart rhythm technology so you don’t have to.

Can Caffeine Cause Irregular Heart Rhythms?

In a small Brazilian study, participants with heart problems were randomly assigned to drink a caffeinated or decaffeinated drink, then assessed with ECGs and stress tests. Researchers found no difference in irregular heart rhythms between the two groups. So what’s the bottom line on coffee’s role in heart health, specifically irregular heart rhythms? “The available research suggests that caffeine in doses typically consumed, about 400 mg a day or about five cups of coffee, does not provoke arrhythmias...

Chocolate May Reduce Risk Of Developing Common Heart Arrhythmia

While research has demonstrated that consumption of dark chocolate may have far-reaching benefits for heart health, new research now points to a secondary benefit for reducing the risk of developing a common heart arrhythmia known as atrial fibrillation.

Common Antibiotics Cause Arrhythmias, Death And Everything Else

Shocking news—unless you are a physician or know healthcare—that commonly used antibiotics can cause death! This time, the villains are macrolide antibiotics—Azithromycin (Zithromax), Clarithromycin (Biaxin), and Erythromycin.This shouldn’t come as a great surprise. We’ve long known that a number of medicines cause serious arrhythmias, often due to “QT prolongation.” So does hypokalemia (low potassium), hypomagnesia (low magnesium), which are often found in acutely ill patients, and certain other heart drugs. In comparisons, penicillin and amoxicillin did not have these side effects. With penicillins, severe allergic reactions are the major risk.

Ditching the meds: Lifestyle intervention and cardiac arrhythmia

Although we have been making huge strides in the treatment of this rhythm disturbance with medications and invasive procedures such as catheter ablations, we are now taking a step back to look at the obvious. The condition is much more common in individuals who are overweight, sedentary, have poorly controlled blood pressure, diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea.

Doctors Used an ER Patient’s FitBit Data to Figure Out How to Treat Him

If your fitness tracker motivates you to walk/exercise more, that’s a good thing. But providing critical life-saving data in the emergency room would be a whole other level of usefulness. And for a 42-year-old New Jersey man who had a seizure at work, Fitbit data helped ER doctors choose the best treatment and possibly save his life.

Electrophysiology: An electrician for your heart

In many ways, your body is like a machine, full of interconnected parts that rely on each other to function smoothly. And the “electrical box” in this intricate machine is your heart. Your heart uses electricity to beat properly. When something goes wrong with your heart’s electrical system, you need a heart “electrician” to fix it. This is the job of an electrophysiologist.

Heart Palpitations in Women: Is It 'Just Anxiety,' or Something More?

Women -- who are at higher risk than men for certain dangerous arrhythmias, and subsequent stroke in some cases -- are often told that their palpitations are "just due to anxiety." But even though they can be triggered by anxiety, it is important for doctors to rule out any dangerous arrhythmias before dismissing the palpitations as only the result of worrying.

Here’s What Cardiologists Say About the Apple Watch’s New Heart Monitoring Features

So, although doctors aren’t exactly recommending that patients go out and buy one of these, they say there’s potential—provided it works well and people use it correctly and with common sense.

Popular Antidepressants May Put Patients At Risk For Serious Arrhythmias

They found a small but significantly longer QT interval for SSRIs citalopram and escitalopram as well as for methadone and the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline. This effect increased at higher doses, suggesting a dose-response association.

Six Do’s and Don'ts When You Have a Heart Rhythm Problem

Time and time again, you have heard how to keep your heart healthy: exercise, eat right, don’t smoke. And while it’s important for everyone to take care of their heart, it’s even more important if you have an abnormal heart rhythm.

Study: Better Athletes Have More Heart Arrhythmias

Extreme endurance athletes, like long-distance runners, bikers, and even cross-country skiers, tend to have enlarged hearts. Also known as "Athlete's Heart," the condition may be associated with an increased risk of heart problems. Within this already elite group, are those who push themselves the hardest even more at risk?

The Apple Watch 4 is an iffy atrial fibrillation detector in those under age 55

As a physician, I’m excited about this new frontier in digital health. But I’m also cautious about its implications. Diagnostic tests like this one are rarely perfect. They usually generate false positives: incorrectly diagnosing a condition in people who do not have it.

The Apple Watch is evolving into a legitimate medical device

The smartwatch's new ECG function brings fitness trackers into real medical care.

The science of heartbreak: A loved one’s death boosts risk of cardiac arrhythmia

Heartbreak, it turns out, is more than just a metaphor: After the death of one’s spouse, people are at higher risk of having an abnormal heartbeat, a new study finds.

Circulation: Tachydysrhythmias

Management of tachydysrhythmias is guided by the patient’s clinical presentation. The unstable patient may require emergent treatment prior to complete assessment. Acute management almost always relies on IV medication and/or electrical cardioversion. Electrical cardioversion or defibrillation should be used to treat any unstable tachydysrhythmia except sinus tachycardia and multifocal atrial tachycardia.