A chunk of the Indian population suffers silently with different types of sleep disorders, without even knowing the cause and trying to find ways to get over.

At least 80 types of sleep disorders have been documented. Most of them can be addressed with expert guidance. ‘Sleep attacks,' where there is intense urge to sleep even during day time, have become common now.

Perhaps, one can postpone everything. Certainly not sleep. It is not optional. You cannot even carry it over. In fact, there is growing number of working population, who seek a day off to catch up with sleep sighting one reason or the other, according to sleep care specialists. This is a fast growing sphere which the medical community is seeking to address.

The problem is not just urban. This afflicts even those living in semi-urban and rural areas. With globalisation, lifestyle changes and new generation of jobs such as in the IT and BPO services, which have shift systems, most of the employees complain of insufficient sleep. This is because day time sleep cannot substitute a good relaxed night sleep, according to Dr Lavanya Gali, Managing Director of Sleepcare Solutions.

Quoting AC Nielson study, Dr Lavanya said 93 per cent of the population suffers from sleep deprivation of one form or the other. One needs six to eight hours of sleep, that too at a regular time. Anything less than that is inadequate. Sleep disorders provide early indication of some of the chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.

A third of human life is spent on sleep and any imbalance in this leads to a condition called Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. According to sleep medicine experts, socio-economic consequences of sleep disorders such as snoring, sleep apnoea and obesity-related respiratory difficulties affect large portion of population. Unless those affected seek expert guidance, health, ability to work may be affected.

Sleepcare has set up its first facility in Hyderabad and plans to reach out with 25 centres within two years.

PHILIPS role

Satyakam Sharma, Business Manager of Philips Healthcare, said “the company is seeking to play a big role in the Indian sleep care market. In 2010, we invested over $1 million and helped in setting up of about 120 labs that help diagnose and assist in sleep care management. We plan to double this number during 2011.”

Practically all the leading corporate hospital chains such as Apollo, Fortis, Seven Hills now have dedicated teams to tackle sleep disorders. “We believe that this market could get pretty huge in the next few years with Philips partnering doctors and hospitals,” he said.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW