Apple gets official approval for watch feature that can spot potentially fatal problem
The Apple Watch can now detect high blood pressure
- Apple has received official approval for a new hypertension feature on its watches, designed to detect dangerously high blood pressure.
- The feature works by passively monitoring the wearer's heart rate data over 30 days using the watch's sensor, rather than a traditional cuff.
- Hypertension is a significant modifiable risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease, affecting 1.3 billion adults worldwide and often going undiagnosed.
- Apple anticipates that the new tool will notify over a million people of undiagnosed hypertension within its first year of introduction.
- Announced at Apple's 'Awe Dropping' event, the feature will be available on new watches and models from the Apple Watch Series 9, with rollout in other countries pending local regulatory approval.