Apple and Eli Lilly completed research to track and identify early signs of dementia

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Apple and Eli Lilly announced results from their 12-week study into whether remote patient monitoring (RPM) by a suite of Apple products — the iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple-acquired sleep monitoring device Beddit — could be used to detect early signs of dementia and cognitive decline.

The study, conducted in partnership with health tech startup Evidation, analyzed everyday behavioral data, such as typing speed and engagement with support apps along with questionnaire responses, and simple digital assessments of motor skills and other cognitive metrics.

While researchers claim the study results highlight the potential of consumer devices and apps to aid in early detection of cognitive decline, the immediate value of the research is limited. Authors of the study acknowledge that more analysis is needed before any long-term conclusions can be drawn.

There's also very little a person can do to fight back against cognitive decline: There's currently no cure for Alzheimer's, which afflicts 5.8 million people in the US and is projected to affect nearly 14 million people and cost more than $1 trillion by 2050, per the Alzheimer's Association.

Here's what it means: Apple is pushing forward on its pursuit of clinical research partnerships, despite unfavorable results in its earlier studies on heart disease.

Apple's study with Eli Lilly is just the latest in the tech giant's long line of recent research partnerships. Apple landed its first big pharma partnership back in 2016, when GSK developed an iPhone app using Apple's medical diagnostic platform ResearchKit to study the daily impacts of rheumatoid arthritis.

Since then, both Stanford and the University of Michigan have embarked on studies designed in part to test the effectiveness of the Apple Watch as a tool for medical research. And following the release of the Apple Watch 4 earlier this year, we may see more research groups take an interest in the platform as a research tool: The Apple Watch 4 boasts several new health features, including an electrocardiogram (EKG) and passive fall detection, in addition to the atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection offered by earlier iterations of the device.

But results have been a mixed bag on whether Apple's devices can effectively offer up actionable data to users and their care teams. For instance, the results of Stanford's aFib study indicated that while the device was able to notify patients if AFib was detected — most of the time it was wrong.

Of the 400,000 participants who took part in the study, the Apple Watch notified 2,000 about irregular heart rhythms. And of those notified, 450 participants received and returned an EKG patch to conclusively test for the condition — with just 34% actually confirmed to have aFib.

No external studies have been conducted to confirm the accuracy of the EKG built in to the Apple Watch 4. However, the flood of consumer health data brought on by consumer wearables could prove troublesome if physicians find themselves fielding a large number of false-positives for serious health issues like AFib and dementia.

The bigger picture: We're likely to see Apple more aggressively seek out health research partnerships as it looks to position its products more firmly as healthcare devices.

In an interview with CNBC earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that healthcare will be the company's greatest contribution to mankind.And many of the company's decisions reflect that sentiment: Apple has started selling third-party smart blood pressure cuffs and glucose monitors in Apple Stores, and positioned the Apple Watch 4 as a “guardian for your health” with medically relevant features aimed at an aging demographic.

But if rumors are true and the company is interested in Medicare Advantage payers providing subsidies for its flagship wearable, it may want to provide more concrete data that can boost the device's value for cost-conscious payers.

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