Millions worldwide endure from sleep apnea, however 80% of victims1 don’t even know they’ve it. This critical situation causes folks to expertise pauses in respiration whereas asleep — probably disrupting oxygen provide, reducing sleep high quality and resulting in well being issues together with hypertension and stroke. Despite these dangers, the dysfunction largely goes unnoticed as a result of getting a analysis normally requires time-consuming and expensive in-lab sleep research.
To mark World Sleep Day 2026, a world examine of Samsung Health customers2 is shedding new gentle on the true extent of sleep apnea and the disruptive influence it has on sleep. Aligned with this 12 months’s World Sleep Day theme, “Sleep Well, Live Better,” Samsung Electronics is popping the invisible indicators of the situation into actionable insights via the Galaxy Watch sequence, serving to these affected enhance their sleep habits and general well being.
How Does Sleep Apnea Impact Sleep?
The report discovered that 23% of examine members had been liable to sleep apnea.
“The microarousals and awakenings that follow breathing pauses fragment your sleep,” stated behavioral sleep scientist Dr. Vanessa Hill. “Those occurrences can prevent the brain from staying in the rapid eye movement (REM) and deep sleep stages necessary for cognitive and physical restoration.”
The report confirmed these fixed disruptions take a direct toll on sleep length and high quality, resulting in:
- Reduced REM Sleep: Participants with average to extreme sleep apnea indicators detected by Galaxy Watch acquired round 4 minutes much less REM sleep, the section the place the mind processes feelings, consolidates recollections and cements studying. Without sufficient of it, folks can expertise temper instability and reminiscence issues, impacting efficiency at work and general well-being.
- Less Deep Sleep: Sleep apnea additionally robs victims of deep sleep — roughly eight minutes much less per night time on common. This is the physique’s essential bodily restoration section, the place development hormone is launched, muscle mass are repaired and the immune system is activated. Losing deep sleep might depart folks feeling bodily exhausted, experiencing slower restoration occasions and getting sick extra typically.
- Frequent Nightly Awakenings: Participants with indicators of sleep apnea additionally wakened extra recurrently in the course of the night time and stayed awake round 4 minutes longer. These interruptions derail the sleep cycle, locking folks into lighter, much less restorative levels and making next-day exhaustion inevitable, irrespective of how lengthy they slept.
- Shorter Sleep Duration: Overall, folks with the next chance of sleep apnea averaged round 12 minutes much less sleep. While this loss could appear minor, it might probably considerably influence sleep high quality as sleep cycles turn out to be fragmented all through the night time.
Why It Matters: “Even a small loss in sleep duration is compounded by a larger loss of sleep quality,” stated Dr. Hill. “This can be the difference between simply being ‘in bed’ and getting restorative rest, which could be why people feel so tired the next day.”
Dr. Hill additionally advocates a multidimensional method to sleep well being. “Sleep apnea affects many dimensions of sleep — duration, quality, sleep efficiency and even daytime fatigue,” she added. “Together, they help determine our health and functioning.”
With sleep apnea proven to influence a number of facets of sleep and result in different well being issues, detection is a vital first step within the struggle towards the situation.
How Does Galaxy Watch Help Detect Signs of Moderate to Severe Sleep Apnea?
For years, sleep apnea has been tough to detect as a result of want for inconvenient hospital assessments. However, Samsung affords at-home detection with a first-of-its-kind Sleep Apnea3 function on Galaxy Watch.
- How It Works: Users merely monitor their sleep with a suitable Galaxy Watch4 for greater than 4 hours on two nights inside a ten-day interval. Available…
