Apple CEO Tim Cook says he is inspired by the story of how an Apple Watch identified a user's clogged heart arteries
- Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to a story on Twitter about a man whose Apple Watch picked up on a major heart problem.
- Cook said the story and others like it "inspire us."
- This isn't the first time an Apple Watch has averted a medical crisis.
Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to a tweet from someone who said their husband's Apple Watch helped save his life.
Twitter user Elissa Lombardo tweeted at Cook on Friday, telling him that her husband's Apple Watch picked up his irregular heartbeat. He subsequently went to the ER and was discovered to have a blockage in his arteries.
@tim_cook New Apple watch saved my husbands life this week! Only two days old and it diagnosed A-Fib and 150bpm. He went to ER which he never did with same symptoms. Found major blockage in arteries as a result. Two stents later, he is as good as new! Telling the world. Thank U!
— Elissa Lombardo (@elissalom) January 11, 2019
According to Lombardo, he has now had two stents fitted, and thanked Cook. The CEO replied on Tuesday, saying he was glad to hear her husband was okay and that her story was an inspiration.
Glad to hear your husband is feeling better, Elissa. Stories like yours inspire us — thanks for letting us know! https://t.co/A7eV4tgS4U
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 16, 2019
Apple released two updates for its watch late last year, designed to help users detect irregular heart rhythms and perform an electrocardiogram — a heart function test — from their wrist.
In 2017, health startup Cardiogram and the University of California San Francisco found that the wearable tech can detect an abnormal heart rhythm with 97% accuracy when paired with an AI-based algorithm.
In a separate study last year, Cardiogram and the University of California San Francisco revealed that the Apple Watch can also pick up hypertension, otherwise known as high blood pressure, and sleep apnea.
Lombardo's story isn't the first time an Apple Watch has taken the credit for averting a medical crisis. Last year, a 32-year-old man was alerted by his Apple Watch telling him to seek medical attention for what turned out to be a ruptured ulcer.
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