Apple Watch saves woman’s life, lead to diagnosis of life-threatening leukemia
Amanda Faulkner, a New Zealand psychiatrist, felt unusually fatigued and warm one summer, attributing it to heat or perimenopause. Juggling over 60 patients, she brushed it off. However, her new Apple Watch repeatedly flagged an elevated resting heart rate, spiking from her typical 55 beats per minute to the 90s.
At first, she thought the watch was wrong. She was fit and healthy, after all, and she had even recently been hiking. However, the notifications kept coming every morning, and eventually Amanda decided to see her GP. That decision probably saved her life.
Within hours of tests, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and aggressive blood cancer. Doctors told her that if she had waited another 48 hours, she might not have survived.
Amanda’s experience shows just how powerful these wearable devices can be, not as medical diagnosis tools but as early warning systems that encourage people to seek help sooner. Apple, for instance, is clear that its heart monitoring features aren’t meant to replace doctors but to provide useful information that can prompt users to get checked out. Elevated heart rates can signal many things, from infections to allergic reactions, and catching these signs early can make all the difference.
Amanda’s husband, Mike, told us, “The positive press from this story has also led to many friends and family members deciding to act on health concerns and/or buy an Apple Watch, and I have seen many similar comments on social media where the post has been replicated. She has also had complete strangers come to see her in the hospital to discuss their own cancer journeys, and as Amanda cannot work in her role as a psychiatrist, these interactions have been great, allowing Amanda to ‘help’ people again, which, after all, is her vocation in life.”
MacDailyNews Take: Yet another life saved by Apple Watch!
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple Watch saves woman’s life, lead to diagnosis of life-threatening leukemia appeared first on MacDailyNews.
