Waukeshahealthinsurance.com-
–
Already a multi-device smart device, Apple Watches last month added another amazing feature: an app Sleep apnea.
It's sleep apnea. situation When the throat muscles relax too much and the airway collapses, the sleeper stops breathing. It contributes to loud snoring, which the sleeper may not even be aware of. Typically, a partner or roommate will raise the issue first.
This condition is associated with many health problems, mainly the fatigue and breakdown of the cardiovascular system; These include high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, heart failure and heart rhythm problems such as atrial fibrillation. It is also associated with dementia and daytime sleepiness. And people with sleep apnea are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents.
Millions of people They are considered. But experts say the new app could be a useful tool in referring people to medical services, though it has not been diagnosed for breathing problems. Sleep apnea notification is available on the latest Series 10 Apple Watches and some older models after a software update.
As with any new technology, however, the sleep apnea feature has limitations and can have unintended consequences, including worse sleep, if a person is too focused on the data or worried about the results.
“We're seeing this phenomenon called orthosomnia. It's people who worry too much about their sleep information and how to increase and improve their sleep. Sometimes they go to extremes,” said Dr. Robson Capasso, MD, chief of sleep surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine.
They may turn to dangerous supplements or extreme diets to get a good night's rest.
New ways to track sleep shouldn't be a source of stress.
“I feel like it's a great tool. It just needs to be implemented properly,” Capasso said.
Apple Watch's new feature uses the device's accelerometer to measure activity, and Apple says it's so sensitive it can detect wrist movements that correlate with breathing at night.
However, it is an opt-in feature, so it must be turned on to start working.
To detect sleep apnea, the watch measures difficulty breathing during sleep over 30 days. If there are at least 10 breath-holding sessions, and at least five of them have abnormally high pauses, the watch sends a notification to the user.
How well does the feature work?
Apple Test it About 1,500 people, some with normal breathing during sleep and others with varying degrees of sleep apnea. Each wore the watch for at least 30 nights and completed at least two nights of a routine home sleep study with the monitor, which included nasal pressure, blood oxygen, body position, respiratory effort, heart rate and leg movements.
Researchers used this in-home sleep study data to determine when each person's apnea-hypopnea index stopped or decreased per hour. Researchers then compared how well the watch worked with measures taken during the sleep study.
Overall, Apple's testing shows that the watch can detect 66% of sleep apnea at any level. It was more accurate in identifying severe obstructive sleep apnea, correctly alerting users 89% of the time. It correctly warned users about 43% of moderate respiratory problems.
Apple says it has improved the watch's algorithm to err on the side of false positives that could scare users away. The new alarm doesn't tell normal sleepers that they have sleep apnea 100% of the time.
So, if you get an alarm, you need to be really sure the result is real and follow up with your primary care physician or sleep specialist. On the other hand, if you don't get an alert, it obviously doesn't put you off. You may still have sleep apnea, especially if you have other symptoms.
The company's research has not been peer-reviewed by outside experts or published in a medical journal. But the US Food and Drug Administration Acceptable transaction Sleep apnea feature on Apple Watches in mid-September.
Other wearable devices also promise to help people know if they have sleep apnea, but this is Apple's entry into the market, which has received some attention.
“It's come up a lot in conversation,” says Dr. Jing Wang, clinical director of the Mount Sinai Integrative Sleep Center. “I got a better understanding of it.”
Wang said the way the watch works is different from the steps she takes to perform an investigation. The watch is based on wrist movements, but it starts with signs.
“If the clock says this or your supervisor says this, what else has happened to you?” Wang said.
In particular, the watch does not ask about signals. It also doesn't use the pulse oxygen feature that's missing from some Apple watches. An ongoing patent dispute.
According to Wang, typical triggers for sleep apnea include loud snoring — although not everyone who snores has sleep apnea — a partner who says they can't sleep because of the noise, or someone who hears their partner stop sleeping at night choking or gasping, waking up and feeling tired or tired all day. Morning headaches, high blood pressure and memory problems can also be seen in the mix, she says.
After this discussion, she will order a sleep study if she thinks it is necessary. These can be done at home or in a sleep lab, which typically requires an overnight stay in a hospital or sleep center. Sleep studies record several variables, including blood oxygen, breathing rate, apnea, and nocturnal awakenings.
The Apple Watch has some of these capabilities, but the company hasn't built them into the sleep apnea feature. Cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Institute for Translational Research, said it would be better if mild and moderate cases of apnea could be detected.
“When their watch had pulse oximetry — now defunct — it would have provided useful information, at least in people without color,” Topol wrote in an email. Research shows that wearable devices that help detect oxygen, called pulse oximeters, are less accurate in people with darker skin tones. leading to pressure Better tools for testing on different populations.
“Unlike home tests or sleep labs where oxygen saturation is continuously measured, the Apple Watch algorithm is based on activity speed measurements, which explains the low sensitivity.”
The fact that the watch isn't too sensitive might not be such a bad thing, says Stanford's Capasso.
Despite extensive sleep studies, the answers are unclear. The sleep study's main measure — the apnea-hypopnea index, or AHI — doesn't always correlate with symptoms, he said. And not all cases of sleep apnea need to be treated.
Capasso if a patient has a lot of breathing problems And he knows that many drops of oxygen must be treated with a continuous positive airway pressure machine, or CPAP.
The machine is a “glorious air compressor” that provides a constant flow of air through a mask to open the airways during sleep.
“There is a lot of evidence that these patients have more oxygen drops, which are more related to clinical outcomes down the road, especially cardiovascular outcomes,” he said.
Get Health's weekly newsletter
If a patient has an AHI that falls into the mild to moderate category and has symptoms of daytime sleepiness and brain fog, he may also consider trying CPAP.
Although not everyone is successful with these machines. About half of patients prescribed this therapy do not use it as intended, Capasso said.
For some people with mild apnea, the key to better rest may be along with other options, such as losing weight — which often cures the problem in people who are overweight or obese — and correcting poor sleep hygiene.
“Many times it's enough to adjust bed-related habits,” he said.
In young adults with sleep apnea who are not overweight, physical characteristics such as the size of their jaw and tonsils may be observed, which may also be the cause.
Ultimately, he says, he takes a person's age and the severity of their health into account when deciding how aggressive the treatment should be.
Capasso thinks Apple Watch alerts will be useful for people who live alone or don't have easy access to sleep studies and specialists.
“This could be a very good screening tool,” he said.