SCRANTON, Kan. (AP) An Apple Watch may have helped save a Kansas womans life by alerting her to her rapid heartbeat.
Heather Hendershot went to an urgent care clinic and then to Stormont Vail Healths emergency room after the watch alerted her to her above average heart rate, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. The watch indicated that her heart rate was about 120 beats per minute, which is high for a 25-year-old in a resting position.
I thought I might be sick and my body was just fighting infection, but my husband is a worry wart, Hendershot said.
Blood tests determined Hendershot had moderate to severe hyperthyroidism, said Alan Wynne, an endocrinologist at Stormont Vail. The condition occurs when the thyroid pumps too much hormone into the bloodstream. Symptoms include a rapid heart rate, tremors, shortness of breath and chest pain.
The condition can be fatal in extreme situations if left untreated, Wynne said. Hendershots only symptom was the rapid heart rate detected by her watch.
Ive been doing this 25 years and its the first time ever Ive heard someone tell me they didnt notice anything and were later diagnosed with severe hyperthyroidism, Wynne said.
Apple Watches use LED lights and light-sensitive photodiodes to detect the amount of blood flowing in an individuals wrist.
If I hadnt been wearing it, I wouldnt have known anything was wrong, Hendershot said.
