Nicola Monk, from Berkshire, had a routine 10k run in 2019 when her husband’s sports watch alerted her to an issue with his heart rate. Chris Monk was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. His experience has inspired him to work towards making this type of monitoring more accessible to others in the future.
The British Heart Foundation’s Data Science Centre is conducting research on how sports watches and smartphones can be used to monitor health. Nicola Monk, along with seven other members of the public, helped create a study to explore ways in which data can support cardiovascular research. Dr. Jackie MacArthur, a senior scientific programme manager at the BHF’s Data Science Centre, believes that securely linking this data with a person’s NHS data could lead to new insights in cardiovascular diseases.
Nicola emphasizes the importance of having access to the data provided by her husband’s smartwatch, as without it, his diagnosis may have been missed. By using this data to improve disease prediction, diagnosis, and treatment, researchers hope to make a significant impact on public health.
