The ultimate case for buying an Apple Watch has presented itself as a woman's life was just saved by one. The wide range of information wearable technology can pick up is more useful than it appears to be on the surface.

Most people probably only think about wearable tech on the surface level. Devices like Fitbit are important for some people because they create an easy way to get quick information about a workout. They're great step trackers, timers, and heart rate monitors, for example. However, one of the overlooked benefits of having a device that studies the wearer's health status is consistency. We may use them for an at-a-glance piece of information about the present, but wearing a device with sensors that monitor health means keeping track of information over a period of time, across a variety of circumstances.

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That consistent tracking over a period of time is perhaps what alerted doctors who were stumped by a woman's negative test results. The 80-year-old patient, according to MacRumors, went into the hospital complaining about chest pains and concerns about her heart health. After administering an electrocardiogram (ECG) test, doctors concluded there was no evidence of ischemia: a restriction of the blood supply to an area, and a common cause of chest pain. However, the woman reported feelings of lightheadedness (which is associated with sudden decreases in blood pressure) and has a history of heart complications, including a recent case of pulmonary embolism.

And so, after the doctors' tests failed to produce a result, she had them review her Apple Watch data, which revealed she was having episodes of an irregular heartbeat. The smart device's ECG feature also showed ST-segment depression, which is a sign of myocardial infarction, an issue that comes from blocked arteries. This revelation encouraged further testing, leading to a diagnosis, and the woman receiving a stent to help with the blockage.

Smart Devices Become Personal Health Journals

Cases like these illustrate how useful things like the Apple Watch can be for medical professionals. Tracking a person's vitals on a daily basis gives a much more clear image of their overall health than most doctors can gain from testing on one specific day. Since most normal people aren't paying close attention to their overall health, let alone documenting it in detail, it's tough to argue against the benefits of wearing such a device. By the same token, doctors treating people for sleep-related illnesses also recommend wearable tech to keep track of data a patient might not otherwise thing to log. Many devices will store data online and present a PDF file of its findings when requested, meaning we're one step closer to having a status indicator like in a video game.

Next: The 10 Biggest Differences Between Fitbit And The Apple Watch

Source: European Heart Journal (via MacRumors)