45-year-old Diwakar(name changed)had trouble sleeping since his 40th birthday. He had gotten used to waking up in the middle of the night with a dry mouth and sore throat. But in the last couple of days, he was waking up with shortness of breath. His wife also constantly complained of his loud snoring, which he regularly denied. Of late he had difficulty in keeping awake at work. Diwakar thought it was a result of stress and sudden increase in his travel. But unknown to him Diwakar suffers from Sleep Apnea.
Sleep apnea is one of the most prevalent sleep disorders. It is most often caused by an obstruction in the respiratory tract, preventing air from entering the lungs. People with untreated sleep apnea choke during their sleep and even wake up due to this, which disrupts the sleeping pattern. The disruption in the supply of air deprives the brain and the rest of the body of enough oxygen leading to very serious consequences, including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Delivering a steady flow of air into the airway is an effective solution.
A 2009 AIIMS study estimated that the number of the patients suffering from OSA is assumed to be strongly underestimated, studies suggest that the prevalence of OSA in the Indian population is 13 % and out of them only 4 % go to the doctor with the symptoms. Interestingly the incidence is three-fold higher in men as compared to women.
That’s probably one of the reasons Philips Healthcare earlier this year roped TV personality and character actor Ram Kapoor and his Gautami Kapoor to raise awareness about this condition.
This week Medequip Healthcare Solutions, a Bangalore based importer and manufacturer of healthcare products launch Hypnus Oxymed CPAP and BiPAP devices for sleep apnea therapy.
“We are committed to raising sleep apnea awareness so that people who suffer will seek treatment. Our mission is to provide quality homecare products that will improve our customers’ quality of life” said Suhas Shubhakaran, Co-founder of Medequip. He further added, “We are ready with a plan to set up a manufacturing facility in Bangalore in 2018, supporting the Make in India initiative”.
The Hypnus Oxymed has certain key benefits.It automatically adjusts supply pressure to guarantee natural breathing. It monitors the users breathing to ensure effective exhalation and inhalation using an intelligent algorithm. The efficient humidification technology brings an increase in relative humidity making every breath warm, humid & comfortable. It also captures and records the patients sleeping data precisely for around 2 years.
‘Medequip provides quality medical devices, we have used their Oxy-med oxygen concentrator for some time now. The machine has been performing as promised and we are pleased with their after sale service. We expect the same from their CPAP and BiPAP, Sleep apnea devices too’ says Dr Narayana Pradeep, Consultant Pulmonologist, Kasaragod, Kerala, ( Gen secretary, Chest council of India)
Do you show symptoms of sleep apnea? Do write into us.
(Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash)
