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High-tech wearables:
life-saving devices
E
ntrepreneur Russel Pengelly lives a high-
energy and driven lifestyle.
In February 2017, the Capetonian
found himself between meetings during
the sort of fast-paced day typical of running
his educational software business. A gym-goer,
he’d developed a habit of regularly checking his
Apple watch.
“My pulse reading was 160 beats per minute. I
put it down to my excitement over developments
at work including an overseas trip the following
week,” Russel explained. “It was also hot and
I’d had about five or six Coke Zeros,” he adds.
“But, in the back of my mind, I knew something
was wrong.”
Russel’s concern was justified.
His pulse remained elevated all afternoon,
through the night and well into his return to Cape
Town about 36 hours after his Apple watch had
first alerted him to a potential cardiac problem.
After urgent consultation with his GP, an ECG and
emergency meds, Russel found himself opposite
his cardiologist, who, to Russel’s shock, couldn’t
believe he was still alive and ticking. His patient
was in a state of extreme Atrial Fibrillation - a
quivering or irregular heart beat that can lead
to poor blood flow, clots, stroke, heart failure
and more. Cardioversion, a technique that uses
electricity to treat an abnormal heart rate,
returned Russel’s cardiac rhythm to normal levels.
Russel’s vigilance and ability to measure
his heart rate in real-time on his Apple watch,
proved the ultimate game-changer. “I wanted
to use my Apple watch to get healthier through
Discovery Vitality, but it ended up saving my life,”
reflected Russel.
No limit to high-tech wearables
potential for tracking health
Tracking devices are increasingly able to monitor
and store a plethora of data points about the
person wearing them. For example, the capacity
for continual ECG-like measurements aims
to see several devices soon predict whether
someone is likely to have a heart attack or stroke
and give ample warning.
Though not yet on the market, a device similar
to the Apple watch and designed to detect atrial
fibrillation through a complex algorithm, does in
fact exist. The system monitors a user and sends
an alert as soon as the threat of stroke or heart
attack is detected.
In fact, blood oxygen meter programmes are
incubating in the latest versions of the Apple
The Specialist Forum | Vol. 17 No. 4
watch and will be activated once medical
experts and techies have reached cons ensus on
the details.
Compression shorts, shirts and other such
products designed by companies like Athos
and Spire are also about to hit global markets.
These do everything from tracking blood flow to
breathing patterns and correlating readings with
levels of anxiety or mindfulness.
“Behaviour modification is most effective when
it’s in real time, and we’re just starting to crack
that nut,” says top US medical device innovator
and founder of Augmedix, Pelu Tran.
Pioneered by non-healthcare companies like
Google and Amazon, these data-rich innovations,
are also set to uncover patterns and causes of
disease as well as predict longevity, in ways yet
to be imagined.
“I wanted to use
my Apple watch
to get healthier
through Vitality, but
it ended up saving
my life” - Russel
Pengelly, Discovery
Vitality member
If Vitality Active Rewards has been such
a powerful driver for making members
healthier, what can it do for doctors?
Vitality Active Rewards for Doctors will soon
be available, an incentive programme aimed
at encouraging our country’s doctors to be
healthier. “We’re making it easier for doctors
themselves to get active and healthy,” explains
Dr Maurice Goodman, Chief Medical Officer
at Discovery Health. “Doctors lead busy and
stressful lives and often don’t have the time to
take proper care of themselves. We care about
our country’s doctors and are going to help them
to get healthier.”
Modelled on the popular Vitality Active
Rewards programme, it will reward doctors
for taking care of their own health. “It also
incentivises them to do point-of-care screening
for chronic conditions for their patients,”
adds Goodman.
“Healthcare economics and NCDs worldwide
will bankrupt every medical system in the world
in next five years. The antidote is leadership,”
says Prof Martin Schwellnus. “Every single doctor
has to lead by example and inspire younger and
older doctors and patients in that way.”
Dr Nossel added that when business puts its
weight and resources behind business strategy
that addresses social issues, everyone wins.
He added, “Helping people to be healthier
has always been fundamental to Discovery’s
business.” Nossel explained that this is what
helps to create value for all stakeholders, and a
principle that forms the foundation of Discovery’s
shared-value insurance model. SF
May 2017
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