HAVING trouble keeping those eyelids open at work? Been caught sleeping in the office one too many times?
A common gripe among their patients, said doctors, is that they would "doze off at work" although they have had a regular seven or eight hours of sleep every night.
An increasing number - doctors say the increase is up to 30 per cent - of these patients are suffering from a potentially life-threatening condition known as Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA).
OSA is a condition when the airway passage gets too narrow and there is cessation of breathing for 10 seconds or more while a person is sleeping.
Doctors my paper spoke to confirmed that there has been an increase in patients seeking treatment for OSA.
Consultant of Respiratory Medicine at Changi General Hospital (CGH), Dr Sridhar Venkateswaran, said: "In the past few months, there has been an increase of 20 to 30 per cent in people seeking treatment for OSA."
Dr John Arputhan Abisheganaden, a senior consultant with Tan Tock Seng Hospital, believes it to be due to a "general increase in awareness".
"People come to me complaining of excessive snoring and being unrefreshed although they've had seven to eight hours of sleep," Dr Abisheganaden, 42, added.
To create greater awareness, CGH will be holding a forum on OSA and breathing related problems such as asthma and long standing cough on June 21.
Symptoms include snoring loudly, gasping for breath while sleeping, "depression, loss of libido and complications at work", according to Dr Sridhar, 38.
Most people do not even realise that it is a serious condition. Apart from the loss of concentration at work, OSA can lead to more severe consequences, doctors said.
OSA can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and loss of control in diabetes.
As a person's sleep pattern is disturbed, hormonal levels fluctuate and the nervous system gets activated sporadically.
Changes in the size of blood vessels then occur which leads to high blood pressure and heart related problems.
A recent Australian study by Woolcock Institute, in Sydney, of 400 patients show a sixfold increase in mortality in patients with OSA, according to a report by ABC News on Monday.
But there is hope yet.
Treatments range from a device known as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) to surgical procedures.
CPAP is a mask-like device that blows air at high pressure to open the airway passage, a "gold standard treatment worldwide", according to Dr Sridhar.
"The success rate of CPAP is 100 per cent and it is risk free, it's the first treatment I would recommend," added Dr Abisheganaden.
The price of the device ranges from $2,000 to $4,000 and the patient has to wear it for at least four hours every night as a continuous treatment.
According to Dr Sridhar, one of his patients, a severely obese businessman in his mid 40s, went to him with complaints of "falling asleep at work" and "loss of work productivity".
He has since been treated with CPAP, lost weight and seen a decrease in blood pressure.
Maurice Quek
Jun 11, 2008
my paper
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