Apple recently introduced a new health feature that allows you to track sleep apnea via Apple Watch. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved the apnea monitoring feature. The backgrounds.
Over 900 million people worldwide unfortunately suffer from sleep apnea. The disease causes breathing to stop briefly during sleep. This robs those affected of sleep and can cause significant health problems in the long term. In Germany alone there are around 26 million people who suffer from sleep apnea. At the beginning of September 2024, Apple presented a new health function for the Apple Watch.
Get sleep apnea notifications on Apple Watch
With watchOS 11 you can track your breathing on the Apple Watch. The Health app contains measured values for “breathing disorders”. It uses the Apple Watch's accelerometer to detect small movements of the wrist.
These are related to the disruption of normal breathing patterns. The Apple Watch records and analyzes the data for 30 days at a time. If the device detects consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea, you will receive a notification.
This way, those affected can talk to doctors about next steps, such as diagnosis and treatment. To support this, you can export the results as a PDF. The document shows, among other things, data on breathing disorders over the past three months and when sleep apnea might have occurred.
This way you will receive notifications about your sleep behavior
If you want to record your sleep behavior, you need to wear your Apple Watch when you go to bed. To use the function, first open the Health-App on your iPhone. Then tap your at the top Profil-Icon. About the Health checklist you go on the rider “Messages about sleep apnea“ and then click “Configure“. Now follow the instructions shown.
To review the data on breathing disorders, go to the Health-App on “Discover“. Then tap on “Respiratory system“ and then click “Breathing disorders“, you will receive all available information.
According to Apple, the sleep apnea notification algorithm was developed using advanced machine learning and a comprehensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now officially approved the function.
But not only users of the new Apple Watch Series 10 can use it. The Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 also have access to the function as soon as they run watchOS 11. If left undetected, sleep apnea can lead to serious heart problems, dementia and other complications. Some sufferers fall into a microsleep during the day.
Diabetes and high blood pressure are also among the consequences. Loud snoring can also be a symptom. However, the FDA emphasizes that the new function is not a diagnostic tool, but an application on an over-the-counter device.
Also interesting:
Source: https://www.basicthinking.de/blog/2024/10/01/schlafapnoe-apple-watch/
