Health City facility to tackle sleep disorders

(CNS): Health City Cayman Islands has opened Cayman’s first sleep lab to monitor, diagnose and treat sleep disorders, giving patients much-needed rest and an improved quality of life.

Consultant pulmonologist Dr. Archita Joshi-Bhatt is head of the Health City Sleep Lab.  “Many people are not getting enough good quality sleep and are suffering from sleep disorders – whether it’s insomnia, which is difficulty falling or staying asleep, or disruptive snoring or choking, known as obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA),” she said.

People suffering from loud snoring or disruptive sleep, or waking with a headache or sore, dry throat may have a sleep disorder.

OSA is estimated to affect about four percent of men and two percent of women, worldwide. But it is also estimated that only 10 percent of people in the world who suffer from OSA are receiving treatment and many patients with sleep apnoea remain undiagnosed. In cases of severe sleep-disordered breathing, for example, it is estimated that 75 percent remain undiagnosed.

One in five adults has a mild form of the disorder and one in 15 adults is classified as moderate. For middle-aged people, OSA affects nine percent of women and 25 percent of men.

“Although no definite figures are presently available for the Caribbean region, in the last year of our practice here at Health City, a tertiary care institute, my colleagues and I came across several patients who had high likelihood of sleep-disordered breathing, either by itself or co-existing (with) and complicating other medical conditions,” Dr. Joshi-Bhatt said.

“Although some home sleep-testing facilities are available on island, patients requiring a more detailed analysis had to travel overseas. We found a burning need to address this deficiency.”

The state-of-the-art lab at Health City aims to fill this gap and provide world-class facilities to diagnose sleep-related problems and treat them locally.

During the overnight stay at the sleep lab, a thorough, painless evaluation of the patient’s brain activity, airflow, eye and muscle reaction is conducted while he or she is asleep, along with monitoring all vital signs from blood pressure to oxygen saturation.  In addition, the Health City medical team will record snoring and track sleep positions with sensors to identify different types of breathing patterns and obstructions.

The data will then be analysed and used to diagnose and treat various sleep disorders.

To learn more about the sleep lab, call 945-4040 or visit the Health City website

Tags: Health City Cayman Islands, sleep apnoea

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