Northwestern Medicine hopes to improve treatment for AFib using an Apple Watch
Researchers at Northwestern Medicine plan to give Apple Watches to thousands of people as part of a health study.
The study is geared toward patients with atrial fibrillation, or AFib, the most common type of heart arrhythmia. The condition is characterized by fast and regular heartbeats from the atria, or the two upper chambers, of the heart.
Those with AFib have a higher risk of stroke, heart failure, dementia, and early death. Right now, the industry standards call for AFib patients to take blood thinners for the rest of their lives — but blood thinners have their own risks, such as excessive bleeding.
This new study looks at how an Apple Watch can monitor a person's heartbeat, then tell them to take their medications when needed — instead of every day.
"So we believe that not only with the strategy where we reduce the amount of blood thinners will reduce the risk of bleeding from, will reduce the cost of taking a pill every day — but will also improve the quality of life," said Dr. Rod Passman, a cardiac electrophysiologist at the Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and the director of the Center for Arrhythmia Research at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
The trial will run for seven years, and will recruit participants at more than 80 sites nationwide. They will be randomized such that some will receive the current standard of care using daily blood thinner pills, while others will use the "pill-in-pocket" treatment in which the pills are taken as needed using a study app on an Apple Watch.
The app will use powerful heart health features to monitor heart activity and notify them when they're entering an AFib episode.
Participants must have their own iPhones, but Apple Watches will be provided through a contribution from Apple itself.
Anyone interested in the study should go to ClinicalTrials.gov to review the criteria for participating and to find a trial site.
