A new study claimed Wearable devices such as smartwatches could be used to detect a higher risk of developing heart failure and irregular heart rhythms in later life.
The peer-reviewed study, published in The European Heart
Journal — Digital Health, looked at data from 83,000 people who had undergone a
15-second electrocardiogram (ECG) comparable to the kind carried out using
smartwatches and phone devices.
The researchers identified ECG recordings containing extra
heartbeats which are usually benign but, if they occur frequently, are linked
to conditions such as heart failure and arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats).
They found that people with an extra beat in this short recording
(one in 25 of the total) had a twofold risk of developing heart failure or an
irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation) over the next 10 years.
The ECG recordings analysed were from people aged 50 to 70
who had no known cardiovascular disease at the time.
Heart failure is a situation where the heart pump is
weakened. It cannot often be treated. Atrial fibrillation happens when abnormal
electrical impulses suddenly start firing in the top chambers of the heart
(atria) causing an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. It can be
life-limiting, causing problems including dizziness, shortness of breath and
tiredness, and is linked to a fivefold increased risk in stroke.
Lead author Dr Michele Orini (UCL Institute of
Cardiovascular Science) said: "Our study suggests that ECGs from
consumer-grade wearable devices may help with detecting and preventing future
heart disease.
"The next step is to investigate how screening people using
wearables might best work in practice.
"Such screening could potentially be combined with the
use of artificial intelligence and other computer tools to quickly identify the
ECGs indicating higher risk, as we did in our study, leading to a more accurate
assessment of risk in the population and helping to reduce the burden of these
diseases."
Senior author Professor Pier D. Lambiase (UCL Institute of
Cardiovascular Science and Barts Heart Centre, Barts NHS Health Trust) said:
"Being able to identify people at risk of heart failure and arrhythmia at
an early stage would mean we could assess higher-risk cases more effectively
and help to prevent cases by starting treatment early and providing lifestyle
advice about the importance of regular, moderate exercise and diet."
In an ECG, sensors attached to the skin are used to detect
the electrical signals produced by the heart each time it beats. In clinical
settings, at least 10 sensors are placed around the body and the recordings are
looked at by a specialist doctor to see if there are signs of a possible
problem. Consumer-grade wearable devices rely on two sensors (single-lead)
embedded in a single device and are less cumbersome as a result but may be less
accurate.
For the new paper, the research team used machine learning and
an automated computer tool to identify recordings with extra beats. These extra
beats were classed as either premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), coming
from the lower chambers of the heart, or premature atrial contractions (PACs),
coming from the upper chambers.
The recordings identified as having extra beats, and some
recordings that were not judged to have extra beats, were then reviewed by two
experts to ensure the classification was correct.
The researchers first looked at data from 54,016 participants
of the UK Biobank project with a median age of 58, whose health was tracked for
an average of 11.5 years after their ECG was recorded. They then looked at a
second group of 29,324 participants, with a median age of 64, who were followed
up for 3.5 years.
After adjusting for potentially confounding factors such as
age and medication use, the researchers found that an extra beat coming from
the lower chambers of the heart was linked to a twofold increase in later heart
failure, while an extra beat from the top chambers (atria) was linked to a
twofold increase in cases of atrial fibrillation.
The study involved researchers at UCL Institute of
Cardiovascular Science, the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL,
Barts Heart Centre (Barts Health NHS Trust) and Queen Mary University of
London. It was supported by the Medical Research Council and the British Heart
Foundation, as well as the NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre.
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