Nursing student claims Apple Watch detected her thyroid condition months ahead of diagnosis

A new TikTok video tells the story of a nursing student in Sydney, whose Apple Watch detected symptoms of her thyroid conditions months before they worsened. She now urges people to use the Apple Watch as an important indicator of one's health.

In yet another example of how the Apple Watch can benefit one's health, a nursing student in Australia has found a newfound use of the wearable. After she was diagnosed with a thyroid condition, the student realised that her heart rate condition as monitored by Apple Watch had been hinting at her medical condition for months before the actual diagnosis.

A resident of Sydney, Australia, a nursing student who goes by the name of Lauren on TikTok, has now shared a video urging Apple Watch users to enable the heart rate notifications of the wearable. In the video, Lauren mentions how, in her case, the Apple Watch detected very early changes in her condition that were finally diagnosed months later.

The TikTok video posted on February 2, and as first spotted by The Independent, shows Lauren admitting that should have enabled the Apple Watch features way earlier than she did. "I would have realized something was going on if my Apple alerted me of changes, she said.

Lauren seeked medical help and was diagnosed with a thyroid condition a few weeks prior to the video, only after her condition worsened over the months. But a look at her Health app, which keeps a track of the medical condition of the Apple Watch wearer, showed that her cardiovascular had seen a dramatic drop since the month of October.

"Instead of me waiting for the symptoms to get really bad, I could have gone to the doctor back in October, when there was this dramatic drop in a matter of days," Lauren mentions in her TikTok video. She also shows a screenshot of a graph from the Health app. "It dramatically dropped, which means my cardiovascular system wasn't working as well as it once was," she adds.

The mentioned drop on the Health app also synced with other symptoms that she experienced, like fatigue, weight gain and dry skin. She was diagnosed with thyroid hemiagenesis in December and is now undergoing treatment.

Lauren mentions in her video that she wished she had all the settings toggled on for the Apple Watch so that she had "noticed the changes and gone to the doctor sooner." She makes one important clarification though. Just as Apple reiterates time and again, she mentions that the Apple Watch is "definitely not something you should follow as medical advice." But, of course, it can act as a very important indicator of one's health on an everyday basis.