If your Oura smart ring detects sleep apnea, it can refer you to doctors

Wearables like the Apple Watch and Oura Smart Ring often have substantial positive impacts on the health and fitness of their wearers thanks to providing detailed information and encouraging healthy activity.

One dangerous condition they’re often able to detect is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a chronic condition that disrupts breathing during sleep and can prove fatal. Oura rings are now not only able to detect signs of this condition, but also to help sufferers get medical assistance …

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

The National Medical Library has described OSA as one of the most fatal sleep disorders.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious medical condition, although it is very common, and perhaps one of the most fatal sleep disorders because of repeated cycles of typically above-airway collapse during sleep that result in intermittent hypoxia, sleep fragmentation, and excessive sleepiness during the daytime. It is such a widespread concern that it has been estimated to affect nearly 936 million adults aged between 30 and 69 worldwide.

The pathogenesis results in several health consequences, such as cardiovascular pathology, metabolic disruptions, cognitive dysfunction, and mood disorders.

It has also been linked to road traffic accidents caused by exhausted drivers falling asleep.

Oura Ring connects sufferers to help

Because the Oura Ring measures both respiration rate and oxygen saturation, it can detect symptoms consistent with OSA. So far it has been flagging the issue in the app and advising people to seek medical attention, but the company is now going further than that.

The expanded functionality is being offered in partnership with health tech company Resmed. The team can now offer three options in response to potential signs of OSA.

• Educational resources and a sleep assessment to understand more about sleep health.
• The option to connect with an independent healthcare provider, virtually or in-person, to address their sleep concerns.
• An informative guide to support discussions with their healthcare provider.

Oura says the aim is to help people more easily access medical care.

“High-quality sleep is one of the strongest foundations for long-term health, yet many people live for years with unrecognized sleep and breathing issues,” said Dr. Ricky Bloomfield, chief medical officer at Oura. “By pairing Oura’s continuous insights into sleep and nighttime breathing with Resmed’s sleep expertise, we’re giving people clearer tools and education to spot when something might be off and to more easily access care so they can better understand and act on changes in their sleep health.”

The new feature is US-only, and works with the third and fourth generation Oura Ring with an active subscription.

I’ve written before about how the sleep tracking analysis in the Oura app can provide reassurance as well as pointers toward potential diagnoses.

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