Apple's Sleep Apnea Feature Gets FDA Approval: What Does It Means

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Apple's sleep apnea detection feature, allowing the company to offer this feature on the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2. Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that involves shallow breathing or temporary pauses in breathing during sleep. Apple's sleep apnea detection feature represents a major step toward positioning its wearable devices as more affordable alternatives to traditional healthcare tests.

Sleep Apnea Can Be Life-Threatening

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder causing breathing lapses during sleep. The body stops breathing many times while an individual is asleep, and this sleep disorder is considered serious and can't be left untreated.

Apple's sleep apnea feature will use a new metric called "breathing disturbances" to identify potential signs of the condition. The Apple Watch models will use their accelerometer to measure wrist movement that indicates disruptions to normal breathing patterns. The tech giant noted that its notification algorithm was developed using a substantial data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests. With this feature, users will be able to track their nightly metrics in the Health app, where they will be categorized as either "elevated" or "non-elevated."

Apple will further analyze this data each month to identify individuals who exhibit consistent signs of severe or moderate sleep apnea. Users will receive data over various periods such as six months, weeks, or years. Apple will also provide a comprehensive report that users can share with healthcare providers. This report will include data from three months of breathing disturbance and additional relevant information.

Here's How You Can Prevent Sleep Apnea

Health experts say that sleep apnea could be prevented using the following measures:

Maintain a proper sleep schedule and environment for peaceful sleep. In addition, you also must limit your caffeine consumption during bedtime.

Obesity is one of the main reasons behind sleep apnea. By maintaining a healthy weight, this can cure not only sleep apnoea but many problems related to your body. By having a healthy diet, you can lose weight to reduce the intensity of sleep apnoea.

Smoking is a great cause that worsens sleep. By quitting smoking, you can experience many health benefits, including the reduction of sleep apnoea. Besides, smoking is also the leading reason behind cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

How Can You Identify Sleep Apnea?

You can identify sleep apnea using these symptoms. Individuals don't usually notice these changes, but people around them alert them about these symptoms. The affected individuals must act early when they notice these symptoms to actually determine the type of sleep apnoea they have.