Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that occurs when someone has one or more pauses in breathing while sleeping. The most common signs and symptoms of sleep apnea are:
- Snoring
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Waking up frequently to urinate
- Poor memory (“brain fog”)
- Apneas (pauses in breathing)
- Morning headaches
- Poor cognition
- Poor mood
- Restless sleep
- Weight gain
To detect sleep apnea, the traditional method is to participate in a sleep study. Now, though, if you have a smart watch, it may be able to detect possible sleep apnea.
On Sept. 16, 2024, Apple released an update to the Apple Watch called watchOS 11. The update includes more fitness and health tracking features, including a feature that can detect signs of sleep apnea.
With the update, Apple Watch can use the accelerometer to detect small wrist movements that are linked to interruptions in breathing. Apple Watch wearers can look at their metrics when they wake up to see if they had any breathing disturbances. The metrics can be tracked over one month, six months or one year.
The breathing disturbance data is analyzed every 30 days to identify potential sleep apnea. If potential sleep apnea is identified, the Apple Watch wearer gets a notification that includes the time the potential sleep apnea happened and education about sleep apnea. The wearer will also receive a PDF showing up to three months of data, notification details and info that they can share with a health care provider.
Apple developed the sleep apnea detection feature using advanced machine learning and training data from thousands of sleep apnea tests conducted by health care providers. The data was validated in the largest study ever completed for a sleep apnea device to be cleared by the FDA.
If you are an Android user and have a Samsung Galaxy watch, the watch also has a sleep apnea feature available through the Samsung Health Monitor app. The feature can detect signs of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea. The feature is not designed for users who already have a sleep apnea diagnosis.
What If I May Have Sleep Apnea?
If you are experiencing symptoms of sleep apnea, or if you have a smartwatch and it detects possible sleep apnea, you should seek an official diagnosis from a sleep specialist. Let the sleep specialist know about your symptoms and any data the watch has gathered.
If diagnosed with sleep apnea, our providers can recommend several options for treatment:
- Lifestyle changes/weight loss
- Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy
- Oral appliances
- Positional therapy
- Upper airway stimulation device
- Surgery
- Expiratory positive airway pressure (EPAP) device
- Other
If sleep apnea goes untreated, it can cause or worsen high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, stroke, diabetes, obesity, depression and other medical conditions. It may also be responsible for impaired concentration, reduced alertness and slower reaction time, and it has been linked to an increase in motor vehicle accidents.
UofL Physicians – Sleep Medicine and UofL Physicians – Sleep Medicine Associates use a multidisciplinary approach to diagnose and treat sleep disorders. Our physicians are board-certified by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Click here to see all of our sleep locations.
