Last updated: July 31st, 2024 at 14:00 UTC+02:00
Smartwatches like the new Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra come with many great features that help you stay on top of your health and fitness. There’s blood pressure monitoring, heart rate tracking, sleep tracking, workout detection, and more.
There’s been another great addition to this feature lineup with sleep apnea detection. It might seem like a minor feature, but it could actually end up saving your life if you’ve got undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
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Samsung’s Sleep Apnea feature has FDA approval
This is the first feature of its kind that has been provided authorization by the FDA in the United States. This means that Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra owners can use the Samsung Health Monitor app to detect signs of sleep apnea by just tracking their sleep twice for over four years in a ten-day period.
Meant for users over the age of 22, the sleep apnea feature can help with detecting signs of moderate to severe OSA after a two-night monitoring period. Obstructive sleep apnea is a very common sleep condition that typically goes undetected. It’s a chronic condition that can cause a person to stop breathing when they’re asleep.
This may result restriction to the oxygen supply and poor sleep quality. If sleep apnea goes untreated, it may increase the risk of heart diseases such as cardiac arrhythmia and stroke. The National Sleep Foundation estimates that around 25% of men and 10% of women in the United States get OSA.
That’s a considerable number, with many not getting treated in time as the condition goes undiagnosed. The sleep apnea feature on the new Galaxy Watch models ensures that people can proactively detect OSA and get the medical assistance they require to reduce any potential complications.
