Dozing off at work? Sassoon sleep laboratory offers help

A study conducted by the Department of Chest and Tuberculosis at the government-run Sassoon General Hospital showed that a majority of 46 patients examined for snoring at night suffered from a condition called obstructive sleep apnea. This is for the first time that a sleep laboratory has been set up in a government hospital. The laboratory,functioning for a year now,gets four-five patients a month and the polysomnography machine — installed in ward number 27 of the hospital — conducts tests like EEG,ECG and EMG free of cost.

“A patient is required to sleep at the laboratory throughout the night and tests are performed; these include examining the level of oxygen saturation in the blood,” says Dr SV Ghorpade,head of the Department of Chest and Pulmonary Medicine,Sassoon Hospital. He says 30 of 46 who complained of snoring and incomplete sleep at night suffered from obstructive sleep apnea. Most of the patients were obese with a large neck circumference while some had increased fat and soft tissue in the neck. They included those with diabetes and hypothyroidism. “A few of them were also alcoholics.”

Associate professor Dr Sanjay Gaikwad of the chest department says,“This is a disorder which can be associated with long term complications if not properly diagnosed and treated.”

Sleep is usually disrupted owing to inadequate breathing when an apnea occurs. “This is a chronic condition where the breathing pauses or becomes shallow,” says Gaikwad,adding that it can result in poor sleep quality that makes the person tired during the day. “If you stop breathing completely or take less than 25 per cent of a normal breath for a period that lasts ten seconds or more,(it) is an apnea. The severity of apneas were measured when the patients sleep in the laboratory.”

Sleep apnea can worsen high blood pressure,day-time sleepiness,insomnia and congestive heart failure,says Gaikwad who points out that the commonly used therapy is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and even simple solutions like sleeping in a lateral position.

Ghorpade says,“We designed a jacket fitted with a tennis ball for the local train driver so that he did not sleep in a supine position. He automatically rested in a lateral position that helped treat the disorder.”