Pune: The time spent in slumberland has a profound effect on two-thirds of a person’s life. However, a sizeable number of Puneites are suffering from daytime
drowsiness, implying that they aren’t sleeping well at
night.
A disorder called obstructive
sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is fast catching up among all age groups.
OSAS is a potentially serious
sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. A person may be suffering from sleep apnea if s/he snores loudly and feels tired even after a full night’s sleep, say experts.
People working in shifts, including employees of entertainment, food and hospitality, aviation industries as well as IT and BPO professionals, are most at risk. “About 35% to 40% of newly diagnosed patients of sleep apnea are those working in shifts and following an erratic lifestyle,” said city-based sleep specialist and ENT surgeon Seemab Shaikh.
Shaikh is the national president of the Indian Association of Surgeons for Sleep Apnea, a pan-India body of doctors working in the field of sleep disorders. He sees around 800 new patients of sleep apnea in a year.
“Five years ago if I would see a patient every day, now I get to see two. The reasons for the rise are manifold. Faulty lifestyle, increasing obesity, rising stress levels and increased awareness about sleep apnea have contributed to the increase in cases,” he said.
The disrupted sleep causes drowsiness during the day and impacts performance at the workplace and personal life. “The patients mainly complain about poor quality sleep and excessive
daytime sleepiness. Almost all of them have moderate to severe breath-obstruction problem during sleep,” Shaikh shared.
A majority of these patients are from higher socio-economic strata. Most are obese and many are diabetic, hypertensive and elderly. They lead sedentary lives with poor physical activity. “In severe cases, the episode of breath obstruction is so frequent that sleep is completely destroyed or fragmented. Untreated OSAS can lead to uncontrolled blood pressure and diabetes, heart attack, strokes, even heart failure,” Shaikh said.
Senior medical expert K K Aggarwal, former national president Indian Medical Association (IMA), said, “OSAS is the most common type of sleep disorder and snoring is a noticeable sign. The low blood oxygen levels and disturbed sleep occurring due to OSA can lead to heart diseases.”
“About half the OSAS patients have high blood pressure. It is more common in men and chances of its occurrence increase with age. It could also be genetic, and people of certain ethnicities are more prone to it than others. This condition is also more common in people with a large neck circumference — greater than 17 inches for men and 15 inches for women,” Aggarwal said.
