Monitoring heart disease at home

For months, heart failure patient Huw Jones in East Yorkshire (England) has been monitoring his illness at home without having to go back to the hospital as often. Nearly a year ago, through tests, doctors discovered his heart only operated 36% of capacity.

Now, every morning after waking up, Jones weighs himself, monitors his blood pressure and heart rate then turns on the television. Through the device attached to the TV, Jones answered a series of questions about his health, entered indicators (heart rate, blood pressure) that he measured himself, and detailed what was he is worried (if any). These data are then sent to the hospital, where the doctors will analyze and inform Jones in case of detecting signs that his illness changes in a worrying way.

Remote heart disease monitoring program is an initiative of Professor John Cleland at Hull University (UK). Participating in the program, patients will be equipped with a ' home health monitoring package ', including questionnaires, medical scales, blood pressure measuring devices and heart rates. Professor Cleland said that this program helps cardiovascular patients reduce anxiety about their medical condition, monitor their disease and become a partner to support doctors to treat early signs of severe illness to have appropriate interventions.

Huw Jones and heart disease monitor attached to the TV.