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The seemingly ubiquitous Apple smartwatch now has another feature that could be useful in screening users for health conditions. In addition to its approved method for alerting users for possible atrial fibrillation, the latest version of the wearable device includes a tool to detect chronic hypertension, according to the company’s press release. The watch would display a heart-shaped symbol and a “possible hypertension” notification based on data from an optical heart sensor that analyzes how the blood vessels respond over 30-day periods. The company says the hypertension feature was developed with advanced machine learning and training data from multiple studies with more than 100,000 participants, followed by performance validation in a clinical study of more than 2,000 participants.
Next steps for patients: Anyone receiving a hypertension notification will be prompted to track their blood pressure and share the results with their provider, which is consistent with the latest American Heart Association guidelines, the company says. The key caveat is that the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t yet approved the hypertension notifications, although approval is expected this month in time for the smartwatch’s official launch.