Essential Respiratory & Sleep Australia

08/09/2026

26/08/2026

Should you trust your smartwatch?

How your smartwatch or ring figures out your sleep stages
It doesn't actually see your brain sleeping — it uses your heart rate, heart rate variability (tiny changes in the time between heartbeats), and movement to guess what stage you're probably in.
Some devices also track skin temperature to help with the guess.
A real sleep study (polysomnography) measures brain waves, eye movements, and muscle activity directly. This is the clinical gold standard for determining sleep stages.
Even polysomnography isn't absolutely perfect — sleep stages are scored using standard criteria, and there can be some variation between trained scorers.
Your device compares your heart rate and movement patterns to data from thousands of other people's sleep studies, then makes its best statistical guess for you.
Why the numbers shouldn't be taken too literally
It's an educated guess based on indirect signals, not a direct measurement of your brain.
Studies show these devices are quite good at telling sleep from wake, but far less reliable at telling deep sleep, light sleep, and REM apart.
The exact minutes shown (like "38 minutes of deep sleep") can vary between devices and even night to night on the same device, more than the precise-looking number suggests.
There's no single "correct" amount of deep sleep or REM you need to hit every night — sleep naturally varies from person to person and night to night.
While some wearables have regulatory clearance for particular health features, their consumer sleep-stage estimates should not be considered equivalent to clinical sleep staging.
The takeaway

They're genuinely useful for spotting trends over weeks and months — like your bedtime drifting later, changes in total sleep time, or your resting heart rate changing.

But a single night's stage breakdown isn't something to lose sleep over, literally.

31/07/2026

10/06/2026

Parasomnias: When Sleep Is Not So Quiet

Most people think of sleep as a still, quiet state. For many, it is. For others, sleep comes with unusual behaviours, movements, emotions, or experiences. These are called parasomnias.

Parasomnias are sleep disorders that happen during sleep, while falling asleep, or while waking up. They are usually grouped into three main categories: Non-REM parasomnias, REM parasomnias, and other parasomnias.

Non-REM parasomnias tend to occur during deeper stages of sleep. These include sleep terrors, sleepwalking, and confusional arousals. A person may sit up, walk, appear distressed, or seem confused, but have little or no memory of the event the next morning.

REM parasomnias happen during dream sleep. These include nightmare disorder, REM sleep behaviour disorder, and recurrent isolated sleep paralysis. REM sleep behaviour disorder is especially important because people may physically act out dreams, which can lead to injury. In some adults, it can also be linked with neurological conditions, so it should not be brushed off as “just bad dreams”.

Other parasomnias include bedwetting, sleep-related groaning, and sleep-related hallucinations. Some are more common in children. Others can continue into adulthood or appear later in life.

The key question is simple: is it occasional and harmless, or is it frequent, distressing, dangerous, or affecting daytime function?

A sleep assessment is worth considering if episodes are causing injury, disturbing others, leading to poor sleep, or happening alongside snoring, choking, witnessed apnoeas, marked fatigue, or unusual movements. Sleep disorders rarely read the textbook. That is why proper assessment matters.

At Essential Respiratory & Sleep Australia, we assess sleep concerns in a clinical setting and help patients understand what is happening during the night.

Because sometimes the problem is not getting to sleep.

Sometimes the problem is what happens after you do.

07/05/2026

The AirCurve™ 11 ASV* is an adaptive servo-ventilaton (ASV) device designed to rapidly stabilise breathing¹ in patients with central or mixed sleep apnea, or patients who have periodic breathing with or without obstructive events.

In complex sleep apnea (CompSA) patients, ASV reduced AHI by 90%, compared to a 65% reduction with CPAP.²

Built on the Air11™ platform, it features a seamlessly integrated connected care system, with enhanced support features and Over-the-Air updates.

What’s new with AirCurve 11 ASV?
Combining the trusted algorithm of AirCurve 10 CS PaceWave™ and the Air11 connected ecosystem, the next-generation AirCurve 11 ASV brings several new and enhanced features.

Intuitive touchscreen
95% of clinicians rate the Air11 user interface as intuitive or very intuitive.³

Enhanced connectivity
Built-in cellular† + Bluetooth® technology enabling enhanced AirView™ & myAir™ communication, including Bluetooth oximeter support.

† Cellular communication depends on network availability.

08/04/2026

When people are diagnosed with sleep apnoea, one of the first questions is:

“Does Medicare cover CPAP or a CPAP trial?”

Here’s how it actually works.

Medicare will cover the important first steps.
That includes your sleep study and the medical consultations needed to diagnose sleep apnoea and prescribe treatment.

But Medicare does not pay for CPAP machines.
And it does not fund CPAP trials or rentals.

So if you’re doing a CPAP trial through a private clinic, that cost is usually out of pocket.

Now, there are a few exceptions worth knowing.

If you go through a public hospital sleep service, some patients can access a CPAP machine on loan for a trial period.
This depends on eligibility, and often priority is given to patients with concession cards or financial hardship.

Private health insurance can help.
Many extras policies cover part of the cost of a CPAP machine and accessories, but the amount varies a lot between funds.

There are also specific programs, like DVA for veterans, and in some cases NDIS, where funding may apply.

So the short version:

Medicare covers diagnosis
Medicare does not cover CPAP or CPAP trials
Other support depends on your situation

If you’re unsure what applies to you, the best step is to ask.
We can walk you through your options and help you find the most cost-effective way to start treatment.