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Hong KongHealth & Environment
‘A warning saved my life’: can Hongkongers trust smartwatches, or are they being misled?
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Victor Ting
Published: 7:00pm, 30 Aug 2026
In the third instalment of afive-partHealth Matters wellness series on Hong Kong’s growing wellness trends, Victor Ting examines how wearable devices are reshaping personal healthcare in the city, as experts caution that they should not replace professional medical advice.
Alice Wong had little idea how seriously ill she might become until unusual patterns on her smartwatch prompted her to seek medical advice
A year ago, Wong, who was still in her twenties, had bought the device but paid little attention to it. That changed when she received an unusual notification warning her of an irregular heart rhythm
What followed was a health scare and a visit to a local doctor, who diagnosed her with atrial fibrillation, or AF – an irregular heart rhythm in which the atria, the heart’s upper chambers, beat chaotically. The condition can reduce the heart’s efficiency and significantly increase the risk of blood clots, stroke and heart failure
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