Heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide¹, which is why the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Heart Federation recognise Sept. 29 as World Heart Day. It is a reminder that the choices we make today can make a meaningful difference tomorrow.

These choices don’t have to be big. From choosing when to go to bed to making time for even just 30 minutes of exercise, the small choices we make every day add up to a healthier lifestyle.

The good news is that Samsung Galaxy Watch can help you make proactive prevention part of daily life. By monitoring your sleep, activity level, stress and blood pressure, Galaxy Watch helps you better understand what’s happening in your body and what steps to take to ensure your heart is doing its job well.

Understanding Your Body at a Glance: Heart Health Score

The American Heart Association recommends looking at Life’s Essential 8² as key measures for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health: diet, exercise, sleep, weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and smoking cessation. But knowing what matters raises an important question: how do these factors change the choices we make every day?

Samsung Health’s Heart Health Score³ is designed to help you in this journey. It tracks and analyses complex health indicators such as sleep duration, daily activity level, body composition and vascular load⁴, converting them into a single, simple score that anyone can intuitively understand and follow.

Think about what happens if you miss your daily exercise for a few days: your Galaxy Watch recognises your moderate-to-high intensity activity level has decreased, reflects this change in a lower Heart Health Score, and makes a recommendation to go for a run. With convenient insights right from your wrist, Galaxy Watch delivers personalised insights that make it easier to recognise changes, understand your habits, and take the next step toward healthier ones.

Samsung Galaxy Watches are equipped with an advanced BioActive Sensor which integrates three precision sensors in one: an optical heart rate sensor (PPG), an electrocardiogram sensor (ECG)⁵ and a bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor (BIA).

Advanced Sensor Technology: From Measurement to Meaning

With calibration just once every four weeks using a home blood pressure monitor, you can easily check your blood pressure⁶ from your wrist anytime, anywhere. When you place your finger on the watch’s side electrode for just 30 seconds, the watch measures an electrocardiogram to detect signs of abnormal heartbeats like atrial fibrillation or ectopic beats. The Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN)⁷ feature, which detects abnormal heart signals, monitors the user’s heart rhythm throughout the day and provides a proactive notification if abnormal signs are repeated.

Even small reminders like this have the power to save lives. In several countries, these notifications⁸ have led to early detection of risks such as atherosclerosis or myocardial infarction.

Around-the-Clock Care: How Galaxy Watch Proactively Monitors Your Health Even During Sleep

Your heart is a constant you can count on, and it works whether you’re awake or asleep. When you wear your Galaxy Watch to sleep, it analyses five major vital signs: heart rate during sleep, heart rate variability⁹, respiratory rate, skin temperature and blood oxygen saturation. These signals are compared against your personal baseline.

When you wake up, your Galaxy Watch will send a notification if it detects meaningful deviations from your baseline. By highlighting meaningful changes early, it gives you an opportunity to rest, recover or seek medical guidance before small issues become larger concerns¹⁰.

Galaxy Watch and Samsung Health give users a clear view of their sleep quality with detailed metrics and insights they can use to improve their sleep habits.

Heart to Heart: Connected Care That Adds Peace of Mind

Looking after your own heart is only one side of the story. From parents to partners, siblings to grandparents or even friends, the burden of caring for the hearts of those around you weighs heavily. Samsung Health’s Health Data Sharing¹¹ function lightens the load by sharing agreed-upon data items (number of steps, blood pressure, heart rate, medication adherence, etc.) with loved ones in real time.

You can check if your parents who live far away have completed their daily walk or taken their prescribed medication on time, just as if you were right there with them.

World Heart Day coincides with the seasonal transition when chilly winds begin to blow in the mornings and evenings. As the temperature gap between day and night widens, blood vessels constrict, sharply increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The key to preventing heart disease lies not in reactive treatment, but in proactive habits of paying close attention to the subtle signals your body sends every day. Start managing your heart health with Galaxy Watch, a reliable health partner that stays with you around the clock.

1. Source: World Health Organization (WHO), “Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)” Fact Sheet (July 31, 2025), “The top 10 causes of death” (Aug. 7, 2024). ︎
2. Source: American Heart Association (AHA), “Life’s Essential 8” (2022). ︎
3. Heart health tracking features are intended for general wellness and fitness purposes only. Not intended for use in detection, diagnosis, treatment of any medical condition or sleep disorder. ︎
4. Service only available with Galaxy Watch Ultra or later released Galaxy Watch Series. To measure vascular load, it is required to wear Galaxy Watch when sleeping for at least 3 days out of recent 14 days. ︎
5. Electrocardiogram (ECG) feature records and analyses subtle electrical signals of the heart when the user places a finger on Galaxy Watch’s top button for about 30 seconds, detecting atrial fibrillation (irregular and rapid quivering) and ectopic beats (premature irregular beats). Requires a Galaxy smartphone running Android 12 or above. Not intended for use by people under 22 years old. Users should not interpret or take clinical action based on the device output without consultation of a qualified healthcare professional. ︎
6. Blood Pressure feature measures systolic and diastolic blood pressure by analysing pulse waveforms with Galaxy Watch’s optical (PPG) sensor. An initial measurement using a separate cuff-type blood pressure monitor is required, and recalibration is needed every 4 weeks (28 days). Requires a Galaxy smartphone running Android 12 or above. Not intended for use by people under 22 years old. Users should not interpret or take clinical action based on the device output without consultation of a qualified healthcare professional. ︎
7. Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) feature detects irregular patterns that may indicate atrial fibrillation through pulse monitoring and provides an early alert. ︎
8. Source: “When Every Second Counts: Galaxy Watch Series Health Features Help Save Lives,” Samsung Newsroom. ︎
9. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) feature analyses minute-to-minute variations in the intervals between heartbeats to show autonomic nervous system balance. It is automatically recorded during sleep and resting states. ︎
10. Heart Health Score and Vitals features are supported on the Samsung Health app (version 7.0 or higher). ︎
11. Health Data Sharing feature requires user consent, and users can independently choose which health data to share (including steps, workouts, sleep, weight, body composition, food intake, heart rate, stress, blood pressure, blood glucose, medication and vital signs). ︎