AliveCor launches updated app providing Heart Journal

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AliveCor has launched the latest version of its AliveECG app. The new version of the app includes The Heart Journal, a feature that allows users to log and tag daily activities, symptoms and events in real-time that can impact heart health and work to identify abnormalities. It also introduces a new metric called Beat Fluctuation, a measure of how much the heartbeat changes from beat to beat in ECG recordings.

AliveCor says that these new features help users to not only learn more about their own heart health, but also contribute valuable data to the global understanding of heart arrhythmias. Currently thousands of patients a month are creating more than 40,000 different tags after they record an ECG. With the new Heart Journal users can now document their lifestyle factors anytime – with or without an ECG recording.

“Based on analysis of the AliveCor patient population we found that the chances of a patient tagging palpitations, shortness of breath, slept poorly or anxiety are higher when they have a detected cardiac episode,” says Euan Thomson, president and chief executive officer at AliveCor. “Our goal is to further attack heart arrhythmias head on. By collecting more data in a community effort we can work to try and develop more insights and advance the science around what might be triggering and impacting patients.”

The goal of the new Heart Journal is to gather data on a personal and population level that can increase the understanding of heart arrhythmias. Physicians often recommend that patients track activities and lifestyle habits along with their symptoms to add the context necessary to guide diagnosis and therapeutic decisions. The Heart Journal allows users to journal their activities without having to take an ECG every time. Users can add events and tags around their ECG recordings, such as drinking coffee, exercise level or medical procedures, to better understand their heart health. The new Beat Fluctuation metric was designed by AliveCor as a way to experiment with lifestyle changes and what may be impacting heart health.

“We work everyday to understand what triggers cardiac episodes so that we can advise patients on potential triggers, such as maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding alcohol or caffeine or regulating their stress and sleep. Many patients still struggle with knowing which of these factors could make a difference and the new AliveCor Heart Journal helps capture the information needed to potentially unlock the mysteries behind heart arrhythmias,” says Ian Del Conde, cardiologist at Miami Cardiac Vascular Institute, USA.