Recently, Apple announced the Watch Series 10 and refreshed the Apple Watch Ultra 2 which now comes with a very important Sleep Apnea detection feature. Apple has not only rolled out this feature for the Watch Ultra 2 and Series 10 but also for the Apple Watch Series 9. Let us understand what sleep apnea is and how this feature works.
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What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep is a very important part of our overall well-being and sleep apnea is a widely prevalent disorder in which a person’s breathing momentarily stops during sleep preventing the body from getting enough oxygen. It is estimated to impact over 1 billion people around the world and mostly goes undiagnosed due to lack of awareness and tools. The disorder if left untreated can have serious health complications like type 2 diabetes, high BP, cardiac issues, and more.
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How Does the Apple Watch Detect Sleep Apnea?
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As sleep apnea is a breathing disturbance, one might assume that it will need a blood oxygen sensor to be detected. However, Apple uses a totally different way to detect sleep apnea. Apple Watch can now measure Breathing Disturbances, which uses a built-in accelerometer to detect movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns while sleeping.
The Watch collects such data for 30 days and then analyzes it. It alerts the user if there are constant signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea. There will be elevated or not elevated readings under the Breathing disturbances section. One can share the data on Apple’s Health app with their healthcare provider to get the necessary treatment.
Apple claims that its sleep apnea notification algorithm has been created using advanced machine learning and an extensive data set of clinical grade sleep apnea tests, post which it was validated in clinical study. The company is hoping to get sleep apnea detection authorization from the FDA and other global health authorities soon and the feature will roll out with Apple Watches to more than 150 countries across the globe.
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“Empowering consumers everywhere to have the ability to reliably identify the presence of abnormal breathing patterns during sleep can help uncover a woefully undiagnosed and serious medical condition such as sleep apnea. This is a major step forward in improving public health”, said Sairam Parthasarathy, M.D. University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Sleep.
Along with sleep apnea detection, users can also have an overall look at the kind of sleep they are having. It includes restfulness of sleep affected by alcohol, medications, sleep position, and more. If there are any nightly disturbances in their sleep, they can be viewed in the health app over a one-month, six-month, or one-year period.
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