When Apple released the first watch in 2015, fans were amazed by the device’s possibilities, particularly for heart rate monitoring and fitness tracking.
In September, Apple released the Series 10, which came with a plethora of anticipated features, including a thinner design, a louder speaker and a faster charger coil.
One lesser known feature is its sleep apnea notification, which checks for breathing disturbances over a 30-day period and notifies you if you have consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes you to experience repeated disruptions in breathing while you sleep. According to the Cleveland Clinic, over time this condition can have severe complications, including undue stress on your heart and even death. It is more common in men than women, and even more common in people with obesity. It affects 5% to 10% of people worldwide, the Cleveland Clinic says.
“When you wear your Apple Watch to bed, it uses the accelerometer to look for breathing disturbances while you sleep,” Apple said in a statement about the new feature. “Over a 30-day evaluation period, if you consistently experience “Elevated” breathing disturbances, you receive a notification, letting you know it identifies signs of sleep apnea.”
Any Apple Watch from the Series 9 on can use this feature as long as it is updated to the newest IOS. To thoroughly check for sleep apnea, you must wear your watch to sleep for a minimum of 10 nights over 30 days. The notifications are intended for people 18 or older who have not yet been diagnosed with the respiratory condition.
To turn on the notifications, open the Health app on your iPhone and tap Respiratory. Then, under Sleep Apnea Notifications, tap Set Up and next. It will ask you a few questions, then you tap Done and your notifications are all set.
In testing of the watch’s new technology, Apple found notifications were accurate about 66% of the time, according to CNN, and the watch has an 89% success rate in detecting cases of bad sleep apnea. For breathing issues in general, CNN reported the watch was correct about 43% of the time.
Learning from a watch you might have sleep apnea might be confusing. There are, however, steps to take after detection that can put you on a path toward regulation of the condition.
Go to a doctor
After receiving a notification you might have sleep apnea, the best first step is going to your primary care doctor. They will be able to help you get a clear diagnosis and know how severe the problem is.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the doctor may recommend you for an overnight sleep study, during which you sleep in a medical facility as they monitor your heart rate, blood oxygen levels and more to best diagnose your sleep issue.
The doctor can then tell you what to do next.
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