Withings Sleep can now help you identify the signs of sleep apnea

Withings is rolling out a big update to its Withings Sleep monitor that will enable users to track additional data that could help identify serious disorders like sleep apnea.

The company has teamed up with sleep physician Dr. Pierre Escourrou in the Paris-Béclère hospital sleep lab to develop the breathing disturbances detection feature for the sleep tracking mat monitoring motion, respiration, heart rate, and snoring to keep track of the intensity of the disturbances.

Breathing disturbances while sleeping happen when you're having trouble breathing while sleeping. It can be common, but it can go unnoticed by people or mistaken as snoring, which is harmless. However, if they get more intense and stay unnoticed they can turn into dangerous illnesses like .

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The Health Mate app will rate the disturbances from low to high and will also provide monthly reports where you can see all of them at a glance, allowing you to see if you may need medical care. It'll also provide information on sleep apnea, telling you how sleep disturbances can affect your overall sleep, blood pressure and fitness.

Withings is essentially using breathing disturbances as a way to educate Sleep users about the signs of sleep apnea, as the company is working toward medical certification for sleep apnea detection by the end of the year.

If Withings is able to get sleep apnea detection medically certified with the Sleep, it would give it a notable head start on its competitors, from Fitbit to Apple, who are also working on sleep apnea detection.

The update is available now to all previous and future users of Withings Sleep and is a free upgrade. You can download the new version of the Withings Health Mate app in the Apple App Store and Google Play, too.