Paula Radcliffe (pictured right)
Athlete
The years 2020-21 will go down in history for many reasons – most of them related to COVID-19. However, the pandemic has had spill over effects on people with other ailments as well, particularly cardiovascular disease.
In the summer of 2020, when the pandemic had just started, there were many news reports across the world, which asked “where have all the heart attacks and strokes gone?”
The picture that later emerged showed that many people could not visit their doctors in a timely manner due to the lockdown. As a result, they ended up in the emergency room only when they had a debilitating stroke or heart attack.
It now appears that many of these deaths could have been avoided if patients had access to the latest technology to monitor their cardiovascular health at home.
The device tells her the percentage of time that she spends in AF and also records particular events where she felt symptoms, so that her medical team can look at it later.
Monitoring heart health at home
Paula Radcliffe, former World-record holder for the full marathon, who now supports health initiatives to combat cardiovascular disease, manages to stay on top of her own and her family’s health with the help of wearable technology.
“My mother has suffered from atrial fibrillation for a long time, but still leads a very active life at the age of 73”, says Paula. “In July of 2019, my mother suddenly started feeling some symptoms during her bike rides she underwent two cardioversions and her condition stabilised. However, during the pandemic she couldn’t see her cardiologist. She suffered a huge amount of stress when we lost my father suddenly and had to spend a lot of time alone. Her symptoms flared and she was concerned.
“She had already been using the Frontier X smart heart monitor, in the absence of face to face meetings, she was also able to share all her data and ECG recordings with her cardiologist. This has given her immense peace of mind, because the device tells her the percentage of time that she spends in AF and also records particular events where she felt symptoms, so that her medical team can look at it later.
“She has also enrolled herself onto the cardiac fitness service where she can speak to a cardiac rehab specialist every week who reviews her data and guides her on her exercise regimen. She is planning a walking retreat with her friends this August.”
Paula also says that the technology helped her monitor her own cardiac health as she recovered from COVID-19 in March 2021. She believes that such devices will be a norm in the future, as people take greater control of their own health.
Based on interview with Paula Radcliffe
