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The Apple Watch can accurately detect hypertension and sleep apnea, a new study suggests
A new study out from health startup Cardiogram and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) suggests wearables like the Apple Watch, Fitbit and others are able to accurately detect common but serious conditions like hypertension and sleep apnea.
Cardiogram and UCSF previously demonstrated the ability for the Apple Watch to detect abnormal heart rhythm with a 97 percent accuracy. This new study shows the Watch can detect sleep apnea with a 90 percent accuracy and hypertension with an 82 percent accuracy.
Sleep apnea affects an estimated 22 million adults in the U.S., with another 80 percent of cases of moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea undiagnosed, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association. This is a serious condition where the person affected stops breathing in their sleep and can lead to death.
Another 75 million American adults have high blood pressure (hypertension), according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), putting them at risk for heart disease and stroke, the top causes of death in the United States.
Being able to detect sleep apnea and hypertension in the comfort of our homes with just a simple device could be a game-changer in medicine. Right now most patients must go to the doctor and wait to be tested at sporadic intervals, making it hard to detect if there’s a spike in blood pressure in the moment when it becomes critical, and even harder to tell if someone is suffering from sleep apnea, as that is something that happens while the person is asleep.
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