Fortis Escorts holds Support Group meet on Sleep Disorders

A Fortis Healthcare support group meet for sleep patients was held on March 5th 2017 to advocate for and mark the importance of World Sleep Day, which will be observed on March 17th 2017. The meet was organised at IIC and spearheaded by Dr. Manvir Bhatia, senior consultant and head, Sleep Centre, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute. She is well-known for her enthusiasm in organising free camps, public camps and support group meetings for patients with sleep disorders.

It was also a common platform for patients to get together, share their experiences, receive updated information with regard to their treatment and disorders, engage in group activities and a question and answer session. In addition to this, the patients got a chance to interact with Dr. Manvir Bhatia. Overall, the meet encompassed the concept of sleep in its entirety and its requirement for optimal health and alertness. It also allowed participants to learn more from one another and gain a better perspective observing others who were suffering from the severity of the same conditions. Through their interactions more effective methods for sleep inducement were discovered. Some of the distinguished guests present were Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman - Cardiac Sciences, Cardiac Sciences, FEHI; Dr Anoop Misra, Chairman, Fortis C-DOC and film-maker Mr. Muzaffar Ali, among other dignitaries. Capt Dhruv from Indigo Airlines also highlighted , will sleep safety an in aviation

Additionally the meet marked the launch of Dr. Bhatia’s, The Sleep Solution. The book, released by Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman - Cardiac Sciences, Cardiac Sciences; Dr Anoop Misra, Chairman, Fortis C-DOC and film-maker Mr. Muzaffar Ali, is a doctor’s professional take on sleep. A work of non-fiction, it addresses queries related to sleep, sleeping habits and disorders. The concepts associated with sleep are made clearer, understandable and are described in an unambiguous manner. Most importantly, it highlights the necessity of sleep for our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing and draws attention to the ever-increasing threat of ‘blue light radiance’ of the multiple devices, which have become extensions of our lives. The book also provides quick tips and other helpful remedies to correct a person’s sleeping habits.

“I recently received an interesting case of sleep apnea. The patient, Girish, was a 49-year-old who suffered from obesity and high cholesterol, with recently diagnosed high blood pressure and mild increase in blood sugar. He complained of snoring loudly while sleeping with pauses in his breathing along with feeling fatigued during the day, with irritability and poor concentration at work. In fact he was worried as he had a narrow escape meeting with an accident since he momentarily dozed off at the wheel! It was recommended that he should undergo a polysomnography (PSG) an overnight sleep test, to monitor snoring, oxygen brain activity during the night. The diagnosis revealed severe obstructive sleep apnea, with severe drop in oxygen during the night. Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which the airway collapses during sleep, resulting in decrease in air to flow to the lungs. This caused the amount of oxygen in his blood to drop, causing him to move out of deep and into light sleep several times throughout the night, which resulted in poor sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and increase in blood pressure and blood sugar. I recommended that he lose weight and sleep on his side instead of his back to help keep his throat open and advised him to use a device to use while sleeping, that blows air under pressure. This will stop the snoring, and improve the breathing,” said Dr. Bhatia who added that Girish’s case was not in isolation and such conditions were a common place.

Acknowledging the effort and the event, Dr Somesh K Mittal, Zonal Director, FEHI, said, “The meet was held to highlight the growing importance of sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea, amongst others. The objective was also to generate increased awareness around sleep-related issues, attributed to many causes among which stress, depression, anxiety and hypertension are the most common.”

World Sleep Day is an annual event organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) since 2008. It is aimed to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy sleep and to draw society attention to the burden of sleep problems and their medicine, education and social aspects; to promote the prevention of sleep disorders. World Sleep Day is observed every year and campaigns on varied issues such as “to sleep better” (2016) and “When sleep is sound, health and happiness abound” (2015). This year for 2017, the theme is “Sleep Soundly, Nurture life”.

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