Sleep Study: can you get one from home?
A sleep study is an examination of your sleep pattern and brain activity while you are asleep also known as a polysomnogram.
Typically done to understand why you might have difficulty sleeping, it studies your breath, brain, body movement, for example.
Strapped to various equipment that measures these metrics, it is not the most comfortable test you would ever get done.
What if you could get it from the comfort of your home, wearing a watch?
Technology is now getting to the point where, perhaps not with the accuracy of a lab test, but such a study can be done from home.
Many popular brands have developed their technology to detect body movement, body temperature, breath rate and heart rate.
Using algorithms, they can then detect REM sleep, deep sleep, body movement, and so on.
A sleep study from your home.
So why don’t you simply use the analysis from your watch to understand what is happening to your sleep?
You need far more sophisticated algorithms and analysis than is worth it for your watch provider to offer. Besides, obviously, not everyone needs one.
Lastly, the analysis would not match lab grade at this juncture and as a brand, you would be concerned about liability.
What if someone sued you saying that the sleep study was wrong?
It is therefore best to leave it to the experts. This is a pattern that actually repeats itself over and over again in health and wellness. The fear of liability.
The system is unforgiving; one mistake could be devastating. So everyone errs on the side of caution.
So what is the answer?
In my limited understanding, consumer education. The more we are educated about the progress of medical science, technology and its impact on health, the better the questions we can ask.
Imagine for a minute that millions of people asked why? Any consumer facing company would immediately move in the direction of that why.
What questions are you asking?
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