KARACHI: Country's first state-of-the-art well-equipped public sector sleep laboratory' has started functioning at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), university sources said here on Friday.
They said that the facility will help people with sleeplessness or those with disturbed sleep leading to sleepiness during day time besides performing sleep studies for the diagnosis and management of sleep disorders.
The research work would be undertaken through collaboration between neurologists, pulmonologists, ENT specialists, dental surgeons and psychiatrists.
Appropriate equipment is also to help the patients manage their condition under the supervision of specialized and experienced team of dedicated sleep professionals.
Vice Chancellor of DUHS, Prof. Dr. Masood Hameed Khan, speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the "sleep laboratory," said it will offer variety of solutions to treat sleep disorders.
The facility is aimed at providing reliable, high quality diagnosis and management of sleep disorders of international standard to the people at extremely economical rates as compared to private sector.
All patients with sleep disorders would undergo evaluation that includes a detailed medical and sleep history, physical examination and necessary investigations, he said.
Prof. Hameed Khan said given the high incidence of road traffic accidents and common dissatisfaction with the quality of sleep it will be meaningful to assess the prevalence of sleep apnoea syndrome (SAS) in Pakistani population.
This assessment would employ an appropriate screening questionnaire that holds high sensitivity and specificity values complimented by application of polysomnography to help evaluate the aptness of any screening questionnaire.
This, the DUHS Vice Chancellor said, required technical and financial support coupled with increased efforts to increase understanding and responsiveness among physicians towards clinical features and pertinent risk factors for SAS.
Prof. Masood Hameed Khan referred to a study published in 2003, according to which many physicians in Pakistan were unaware of clinical features as well as common associations of SAS. As many as eighteen percent physicians were treating sleep disturbances with sedatives, he said.
Research in this relatively unexplored area will help comprehend local relevance, said the DUHS Vice Chancellor.
Prof. Masood Hameed Khan said laboratory will also be a stepping stone that will facilitate prevention, diagnosis and early management of the disorder and help reduce the burden of major chronic illnesses in Pakistan.
Following the inaugural ceremony a seminar on Sleep Apnoea Syndrome (SAS) was held and addressed by experts who identified the condition generally characterized by snoring, obstructed breathing during sleep, excessive day-time tiredness and fatigue.
It is potentially a life threatening condition that is far more common than generally understood, said Dr. Kaleem Ahmed. Hypertension, cerebrovascular diseases and metabolic syndrome were enumerated as contributory factors towards the condition.
It is also believed to be associated with high prevalence of psychiatric co-morbid conditions such as depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, psychosis, and bipolar disorders.
Dr. Iftikar Ahmed, a senior physician said Sleep Apnoea correlates with day time sleepiness and car crashes (road traffic accidents) involving drivers who fell asleep while driving. Although data for the condition in Asia, that also includes Pakistan, is scarce.
However, studies report that Sleep Apnoea prevalence range between 2.1-7.5 percent among Asian populations. It is important to note that most Asian prevalence studies did not use gold standard overnight Polysomnography for clinical diagnosis, said Dr. Kaleem Ahmed.
He said from cardiovascular diseases to psychiatric illnesses, there are several SAS risk factors that have been reported to have a high prevalence in Pakistani population.
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