TECHNOLOGY could come in handy just when you least expecting it. For Farhat Haniff, the smartwatch he’s been wearing for a more stylish look, measuring his workout and listening to music has triggered something that saves his life.
While flying back from Langkawi last August, he noticed a beep on his Apple Watch notifying him of irregular heart rate rhythm, where in this case it went above the normal rate of 120 beats per minute without doing any exercise.
“I was just sitting in the plane and suddenly a message appeared on my watch saying that my heart rate was elevated,” he says.
The 30-year-old restauranteur and freelance architect from Putrajaya thought something was wrong with his watch as he wasn’t doing any exercise that could increase the heart rate.
He thought it was because of his anxiety of flying and the condition of the flight that day, but a few days later and after resetting his watch (while not doing any exercise), his watch alerted him again about an elevated heart rate.
Farhat knew that the Apple Watch has a feature that can check heart rate rhythm but never really bother about it, but after the second alert, he felt uneasy and decided to consult a doctor at a clinic in Cyberjaya.
“I took an ECG test and was shocked to see the change in the doctor’s expression. The result says my heart rate was abnormal and I was advised to go to the nearest hospital for a thorough check-up,” says Farhat, who runs a restaurant called Serabei in Presint 8, Putrajaya.
He went to the Putrajaya Hospital where he was placed in the red zone.
“I was worried that I had to ask my friend to drive me to the hospital,” he says.
“At the hospital, I went through several ECGs and took a blood test but somehow everything came out okay. They couldn’t find the exact reason for the spike in my heart rate, and since I didn’t have any chest pain, I was discharged,” he says.
Although Farhat was okay since then, he didn’t want to take the change of getting a heart attack and has been taking extra precaution with his diet. He event stops his caffeine intake and avoids strenuous activities to keep his heart rate in check, and regularly uses the Breathe app, Pillow Sleep Tracker, Gymatic and Apple Music.
“I never really paid attention to my heart rate, but when something like this really happen it made me realise that something may be wrong. Technology like the heart rate monitoring in the Apple Watch is something that you can’t see and it’s just amazing how it works,” he says.
Apple Watch heart rate notification
The heart rate notification feature has been available on the Apple Watch since the Series 1. Users can enable notifications from the Heart Rate app on their Apple Watch to alert them on high or low heart rates and irregular heart rhythms.
If the users’ heart rate remains above or below a chosen beats per minute (BPM) while they appear to have been inactive for a period of 10 minutes, the watch can notify them.
Besides monitoring heartbeat, the Apple Watch can also check users’ heart beat to check for an irregular rhythm that might be atrial fibrillation (AFib) and do ECG alert. However these two features are not available in Malaysia yet.
How to see heart rate notification on Apple Watch
l Open the Health app on your iPhone.
l Tap Browse at the bottom right, tap Heart, then tap Heart Rate.
l To add Heart Rate to your Summary, swipe up, then tap Add to Favorites.
l You can see your heart rate over the last hour, day, week, month, or year. Tap Show All Filters and you can also see the range of your heart rate during the selected time period; your resting, walking average, workout, and breathe rates; and any high or low heart rate notifications.
l By default, your Apple Watch monitors your heart rate for the Heart Rate app, workouts, and
l Breathe sessions. If you’ve turned off heart rate data, you can turn it back on.
l Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
l Tap My Watch, then tap Privacy.
l Turn on Heart Rate.
Besides that, your Apple Watch can notify you if your heart rate remains above a chosen threshold or below a chosen threshold after you’ve been inactive for at least 10 minutes. You can turn on heart rate notifications when you first open the Heart Rate app, or at any time later.
l Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
l Tap My Watch, then tap Heart.
l Tap High Heart Rate, then choose a heart rate - 120 bpm, for example.
l Tap Low Heart Rate, then choose a heart rate - 45 bpm, for example.