Sleep apnea is a condition that is thought to affect up to 1 billion people worldwide, and yet most people don’t even know they have it. After all, it’s difficult to know what your body is doing when you’re asleep. Thankfully, Apple will soon have you covered (if you own an Apple Watch).
Your Apple Watch Can Detect Signs of Sleep Apnea
As announced atthe “It’s Glowtime” iPhone event, and detailed ina post on the Apple Newsroom, the Apple Watch is getting a new feature that monitors you for signs of sleep apnea. If detected, your Apple Watch will notify you of the issue, and recommend you discuss it with your doctor.
Sleep apnea is a condition that means you stop breathing momentarily while sleeping. This prevents your body from getting enough oxygen, leading to poor quality sleep at night, and a lack of energy during the day. If left undiagnosed and untreated, it can lead to serious health issues.
Apple at least wants to help with the diagnosis part, and is using a new Apple Watch metric called Breathing Disturbances to do so.
How Your Apple Watch Knows You Have Sleep Apnea
The Apple Watch will be able to monitor you for sleep apnea using the Breathing Disturbances metric. This utilizes the accelerometer to detect small movements in your wrist that are “associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns during sleep”.
Every 30 days, your Apple Watch will analyze this data, and notify you if it shows consistent signs of sleep apnea. It will then be up to you to consult a doctor about an actual diagnosis and potential treatment options.
Apple expects to receive approval for sleep apnea notifications from the FDA and other health authorities soon. And when it does, the sleep apnea detection feature will be available in more than 150 countries, including the US, the EU, and Japan. The feature will be supported on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
TheApple Watch Series 10 boasts some fantastic featuresthat we think make it a must-buy.
Using Technology to Monitor Everyday Health Problems
This isn’t the only new health feature Apple is launching either, with the AirPods Pro 2 boasting an all-in-one hearing health experience designed to help AirPods users understand their hearing health and take steps to improve it.
Using technology that we wear or carry about our person all day, every day, is an innovation many of us take for granted. However, as brilliant as it is, it should only ever be the first step in identifying a potential problem, with a consultation with a doctor the next step.
