E-Paper
Non-obese men also falling victim to obstructive sleep apnea
LUCKNOW: A biker going straight on a road suddenly slips and falls injuring himself as well as others.
LUCKNOW: A biker going straight on a road suddenly slips and falls injuring himself as well as others.
Have you ever seen such an incident and wondered how did it happen? Well this could be due to lifestyle and work stress, and not just faulty driving. The prosthodontics department of the Saraswati Dental College has concluded this in a study that included 552 Lucknowites. The study on non-obese men was done between 2012 and 2016.
“Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is usually connected with obese people, particularly those having fat in the neck region but we found occupational stress had resulted in inflammation of airway passage, thereby resulting in OSA,” said Prof Arvind Tripathi, HoD prosthodontics department at the college.
The study had 552 samples (men) of which 120 were found having problem in sleep. Among these 120 men, 57 were clinically diagnosed with OSA and alarmingly among these men, 39 had OSA due to occupational stress.
“They were not even aware that they had OSA. We got all of them treated,” said Tripathi, who conducted the study and treatment in association with Dr Surya Kant of the department of respiratory disease at the KGMU.
The study was published in a journal of prosthodontics by the title ‘Lifestyle and occupational stress: a potential risk factor for OSA in non-obese male patients’
HOW OSA EFFECTS NA INDIVIDUAL
OSA has a clear adverse impact on performance of professionals such as drivers, security personnel, bankers, recruitment professionals and all those who are involved in public dealing work. Apart from these groups that might have hidden OSA, single mothers, people who have chronic illness patients at home, too, are vulnerable to hidden OSA.
“The study found that lifestyle and occupational stress activated the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenal axis initiating acute inflammatory response causing upper airway inflammation and constriction. This deprives the person of adequate sleep, resulting in lack of concentration when awake,” said Tripathi.
In single and distressed parents, long haul train and public transport drivers and night patrol police personnel lifestyle and occupational stress alone accounted for nearly 60% of non-obese patients being afflicted with OSA.
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE
If a person is feeling lack of concentration while calculating (as banker), driving (on road) or at home without any specific or clear reason, focus should be to know whether the person is sleep deprived. If on individual level one can assume sleep disturbance, a doctor should be consulted.
BOX:
LUCKNOW: The study included only men due to a reason. Men, according to their body structure, are more vulnerable to OSA. Also the airway anatomy of men and women are different, hence the study for non-obese women falling victim to OSA could be done in a separate study.
IN NUMBERS
*Sample size 552
*Problem found in 120
*OSA among them in 57
*Lifestyle related OSA 39
