How Apple Watch’s heart health monitoring features helped save a Bengaluru techie’s life

For a great many people, the Apple Watch has proven to be a godsend. Because of the features that Apple has packed into the device, there have been numerous instances where the Apple Watch has literally saved lives. Naturally, then, the Apple Watch has a huge fan following, some of whom often write to Apple CEO Tim Cook, thanking him for making the device what it is.

A case in point would be Bengaluru-based Sharath Sriram, a 25-year-old techie, who owes his mental well-being and good health to the Apple Watch. In a letter to Tim Cook, Sharath narrated how the smartwatch proved crucial in making some life-altering decisions.

Sharath was working as an iOS developer with a company in Bengaluru, which, in his own words was fostering a stressful environment where he was unfairly treated by his employer. The situation was so bad that it was having an adverse effect not only on his mental health but also on his physical well-being.

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Following is a conversation that Firstpost had with Sharath, where he explains how the Apple Watch helped him realise what exactly was going on:

In your letter to Tim Cook, you say that the Apple Watch is the most useful gadget you have ever purchased. What made you say that?
I am a gadget aficionado and I have lots of devices. Most of them are great at making my work easier but the Apple Watch is the only gadget that has directly impacted my life. If not for the Apple Watch, I’d definitely not have taken my stress and mental health seriously.

I would have continued on my role and it would have affected my physical health in the long-term in a very bad way. That’s why I call the Apple Watch the most useful gadget I have ever purchased - it truly makes our lives better and changes our world in a way no other product can.

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Which version of the Apple Watch are you using right now? What is your favourite feature about it?
I am using the Apple Watch Series 8 currently, I specifically got it in the Gold Stainless Steel version because I love the way it looks and I have a huge collection of watch bands to go with it. I don’t know if I can pick one favourite feature because I think every feature adds to the value of the device.

I really love the sleep tracking and temperature detection. I know Apple markets temperature sensing only for female reproductive health but I find that I can correlate temperature data, quality of sleep and other factors to how I feel on a particular day, these are vitals that directly affect how I experience the next day. With the new Mental Health feature on watchOS 10, I am also able to analyse this pretty well. I log my moods everyday with a complication set on my watch face. I love that I can see the relationship between these moods, my sleep and my heart rate directly on the Health app.

When you first got your Apple Watch, was keeping track of your heart health that serious a consideration, or were you looking at it as a fitness monitoring device or a statement piece?
I did not consider tracking my health when I bought the Apple Watch. I love Apple gadgets and I just purchased the Watch to complete my ecosystem. I was excited by other features like notifications, answering calls and listening to songs without my phone and also liked it as a fashion statement. But lately, the health features have made a larger impact on my life and I have come to appreciate those features more than anything else.

Tell us something about the issues you were having. What would trigger it? How did you come to know that a certain incident or event would trigger you to fall sick?
I had joined that workplace 7 months prior to the incident. During the time of the incident, we were working on a major feature launch which involved putting in long hours and weekends which was stressful as is. However, the leadership was not really supportive and we were constantly criticised and berated for our work. With a lot of people quitting, it made things more difficult.

I was aware that I was very stressed but I did not take it too seriously. Soon I started noticing that during meetings, which typically were extremely stressful, I would receive multiple high heart rate notifications. My readings were in the 130-135 range during these times.

My normal heart rate was also generally elevated but the meetings made them very high. I would also feel very sick - exhausted and feverish - for a couple of hours after these episodes. When I discussed this with my wife, she became very concerned and suggested that we see a doctor immediately.

How easy was it for you to share the readings or data from your watch with your doctor?
I shared screenshots of my heart rate from the Health app which the doctor seemed satisfied with. For the ECG Feature, I was able to share a PDF with my doctor fairly easily right from the Health app.

What health parameters do you keep an eye on now?
I track a lot of data from my Apple Watch - heart rate, sleep data, activity rings, wrist temperature, and VO2 Max.

I also find the hearing data about excess noise to be useful to avoid being exposed to constant loud noise. As part of the recent watchOS 10 updates, I love the mental health mood logs that I am tracking meticulously and I also like the new “Time in Daylight” feature. I find that it’s a useful metric to track how much time I spend in sunlight to ensure I get an adequate amount of Vitamin D

How effective have Apple’s new Mindfulness features been?
Yes, I use the mood logs on my Apple Watch to track my moods every day. I also try to use the Breathe feature at least once every day. It really helps in keeping your mind calm. During my stressful days, I used to do this often to bring down my heart rate and calm myself. It would help in bringing down the heart rate by a fair bit and I would feel much more composed after using this feature.