Patna: In a significant development, the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Patna in Bihar has taken a lead in treating a sleeping disorder by setting up a two-bedded special 'Sleeping therapy lab' for the patients. Officials said that the sleeping lab was set up at Patna AIIMS five years ago to cater to sleep disorder patients.
The lab's operations were disrupted for the last 2 years due to COVID-19. However, with the improvement in the situation, the lab has resumed operations of late. At Patna AIIMS, the number of people suffering from Sleeping disorders has increased with long queues turning up to take the sleep therapy. Many dignitaries are also among the people who have corrected their sleep disorders by visiting this sleep lab, including Renu Devi, former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.
Apart from this, many former MLAs and MPs have also taken therapy in the sleeping lab of AIIMS to cure sleep disorders. Head of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at AIIMS Patna, Dr Deependra Kumar Rai informed that so far more than 18 hundred people have visited the sleep lab in Patna AIIMS and have taken this sleep therapy.
Up to 50 therapies are done at the lab in a month, he said. Over the equipment at the lab, Dr Rai informed that there are two level-1 machines in the sleep lab of AIIMS with each costing Rs 24 lakh. "The EEG wires are placed on the patient's head which monitors the brain signals. The machines also detect whether a person is having a bad dream, he/she is snoring or breathing heavily in which case a C-Pap machine is installed," he said.
A pipe is also installed to measure the airflow of the nose. Apart from this, EMG (electromyogram) wire is also placed on the chin of the patient, which detects his/her muscle movements while sleeping. Apart from this, two belts are placed on the stomach and chest of the patient, which find out how many times the person is stopping breathing within 1 hour and if it is stopping more than 5 times, which means the patient has sleep apnea, he said.
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A pulse oximeter is applied to one finger of the hand to measure oxygen saturation. Besides, an EOG (electrooculogram) wire is also placed on the eye. A team of technicians at the sleeping lab keeps monitoring the sleep condition of the patient. After therapy at the lab, a patient is advised to do exercise and yoga which enhances good sleep.
Dr Deependra Kumar Rai, Head of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine said that in India, 7 out of 100 people suffer from sleep apnea. But people do not take therapy in sleep labs because they lack awareness. Taking therapy in a sleep lab reduces the chances of heart attack, he said. Nutan, who took sleep therapy at AIIMS last month, said that she benefited a lot from taking sleep apnea therapy.
She said that the sleep disorder had been caused due to excessive accumulation of fat near the neck. Vijay, who has taken therapy in the AIIMS sleep lab, said that he had a snoring problem and frequent sleep breaks which have been mitigated to a large extent after taking sleep therapy. Dr Umesh Bhadani, Dean of AIIMS Patna said that by taking sleep therapy in the sleep lab, a person's blood pressure and sugar level are controlled. It is important to improve lifestyle and diet after therapy, he however suggested.
