Can your smartwatch spot heart trouble? A cardiologist explains what the data means

Smartwatches track health numbers like heart rate and blood oxygen levels, but reading that data is not always simple. Dr Subhendu Mohanty, a director of cardiology at ShardaCare-Healthcity, explains how to understand these wearable health readings and when to see a doctor.

Understanding Alerts And Symptoms

Smartwatches can send alerts when readings go outside normal limits. Doctors warn people not to panic over a single odd reading, because a watch is an early warning tool and not a final medical diagnosis. A watch can spot an unusual pattern, but it cannot find the root cause or confirm heart disease on its own. Continuous heart-rate tracking is useful, but numbers must be read along with any physical signs. If a resting heart rate stays much higher than usual over and over, especially alongside breathlessness, dizziness, fatigue, or chest discomfort, it is worth talking to a doctor.

ECG Features And Limitations

Some watches offer single-lead ECG recordings that can spot patterns pointing to atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular heart rhythm. For example, a person with occasional palpitations can record an episode on their watch and show the tracing to a cardiologist. This helps give extra context when the irregular rhythm is absent during a normal clinic visit. Still, wearable ECGs have limits and miss some heart conditions. Wearable data works best as a trend over several weeks rather than a single number, and doctors still rely on physical exams, patient history, and tests like standard ECGs or blood tests alongside watch data.

Context

Smart wearable devices have grown common for daily fitness and health tracking, giving users continuous access to vital signs that were once only measurable in a clinic. Cardiologists generally view consumer health gadgets as helpful aids for personal awareness, but emphasize that they cannot replace professional diagnostic tools and clinical evaluations.