Philips issues wake up call on potential health hazards posed by sleep disorders

(From Left)  Mr. Peter White (Vice-President, Philips Respironics Asia Pacific, Philips Home Healthcare Solutions); Mr. Wayne Spittle (Senior Vice President & CEO, Multi Country Region – Asia, Philips Healthcare Asia Pacific & Pacific Cluster Manager – Philips Korea, Australia and New Zealand); Mr. Lee Weng Seong, Chairman  & Chief Executive Officer, Philips Group of Companies, Malaysia.

• Estimated 80-90% of sleep disorders go undiagnosed, despite clear symptoms[1]
• People with untreated Obstructive Sleep Apnea, a fairly common sleep disorder, may be at higher risk for serious health hazards that can negatively impact productivity and quality of life

• OSA prevalence twice as high in Malaysia compared to Asia[2].

Kuala Lumpur - Philips Electronics Malaysia today called for broad education on Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), one of the most common sleep disorders worldwide, which affects an estimated 7 percent of the local population[3]. A condition characterized by the repeated cessation of breathing during sleep, OSA can not only negatively impact a person’s overall quality of life and productivity, but as recent research has revealed, it can also potentially lead to serious health issues, increasing the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and other conditions

The vast majority of people fail to seek medical diagnosis for sleep disorders. Individuals with moderate to severe OSA often have a number of symptoms including loud, disruptive snoring, gasping for air or choking during sleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness. However, only a fraction of such people have been accurately diagnosed. In Malaysia, the prevalence of symptomatic OSA in men and women aged between 30-70 years is 8.8 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively[4]. This is twice as high when compared to the Asian prevalence of symptomatic OSA in middle-aged men (4.1 - 7.5 percent) and women (2.1 - 3.2 percent)[5].

Mr. Wayne Spittle, Senior Vice President & CEO, Multi Country Region – Asia, Philips Healthcare Asia Pacific & Pacific Cluster Manager – Philips Korea, Australia and New Zealand presenting to the Malaysian media an overview of Philips Healthcare.

“The length and quality of people’s sleep is deteriorating because of lifestyle changes – which can occur because of various factors such as work-related stress, financial worries or poor diet,” said Peter White, Vice President - APAC, Philips Respironics. ”Only one in seven people who have Obstructive Sleep Apnea actually seek medical help. People simply need to take sleep much more seriously.”

“Sleep is not optional – it is absolutely critical to people’s health,” continued Mr. White. “The consequences of not sleeping enough are well documented. The chronically sleep deprived have a huge economic impact; in addition to significantly reduced productivity their condition may result in industrial or road accidents. Lack of sleep may also contribute to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure and even heart attacks.”

Individuals with OSA are between two and three times more likely to develop hypertension[6] and also have an increased risk of stroke than those without OSA[7]. Further studies have shown that Type 2 diabetes is more prevalent in patients with sleep-disordered breathing independent of other risk factors[8].

“In Malaysia, increasing age, obesity, smoking and use of sedatives are associated with habitual snoring, which is in turn, a symptom of OSA. Chinese or Indian ethnicities are also at higher risk compared to Malays,” shared Prof. Dr. Syed Hassan Ahmad, President of the Sleep Disorder Society of Malaysia.

A recent study conducted by Philips in five markets across the globe revealed[9] that while OSA is fairly well recognized as a curable illness, just over a third of those consider snoring – which is one of the key symptoms of OSA – a problem for them personally, with almost two-thirds of those respondents describing snoring as a minor inconvenience that they feel does not need to be dealt with. The study amplifies the need for education on OSA and other sleep disorders which, too often, are not being taken seriously enough among the individuals suffering from them.

(From Left) Prof Syed Hassan Ahmad, President of Sleep Disorder Society Malaysia); Mr. Wayne Spittle, Senior Vice President & CEO, Multi Country Region – Asia, Philips Healthcare Asia Pacific & Pacific Cluster Manager – Philips Korea, Australia and New Zealand; Mr. Peter White, Vice-President, Philips Respironics Asia Pacific, Philips Home Healthcare Solutions).

OSA can easily be diagnosed by physicians upon assessing a patient’s complaints and symptoms. If sleep apnea is suspected, a patient will be referred for a diagnostic sleep study known as a polysomnogram, or PSG, to confirm the type and severity of the sleep apnea, as well as the appropriate treatment.

Once OSA is identified as the cause of a patient’s complaints and symptoms, it usually can be effectively treated with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy, a non-invasive approach which is the preferred treatment of choice for OSA. CPAP provides a gentle flow of air pressure through the nasal passage using a mask, preventing airway collapse to allow an OSA patient to breathe freely during sleep. The CPAP device is equipped with various features to increase patient comfort during therapy.

“We are facing a serious healthcare problem if we do not take sleep more seriously. In the case of OSA, patients have to temporarily awaken from sleep to resume breathing, leading to fragmented sleep. In severe cases, people may wake up more than 30 times  during sleep due to the recurrent apneas,” explained Professor Dr. Syed Hassan. “CPAP therapy can dramatically minimize the impact of OSA. It also offers added patient benefits such as increased energy, and lower blood pressure and risk of strokes and heart attacks.”

“As a leader in the sleep management market and the treatment of OSA, Philips aims to design sleep therapy products that encourage patients’ acceptance of OSA treatment through increased comfort to improve sleep and ultimately, improve people’s quality of life,” said Wayne Spittle, Senior Vice President and CEO, Philips Healthcare, Multi Country Region, Asia Pacific. “A core part of Philips’ healthcare strategy is to take a leadership position in the high-growth sector of home healthcare. Our heritage in understanding how consumers think combined with our deep clinical knowledge, places us in a unique position to help address the modern day challenges of healthcare in groundbreaking ways. Today, Philips is present throughout the cycle of care; we are bridging the hospital and home.”

Prof Syed Hassan Ahmad, President of Sleep Disorder Society Malaysia providing his perspective.