Managing sleep disorders

The Star

Naeem: We believe the centre will help relieve th e cost of healthcare in the economy.

PHILIPS Malaysia and University of Malaya Specialist Centre (UMSC) recently signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on setting up South-East Asia’s first centre for sleep disorders in Malaysia.

Housed in UMSC, the centre is scheduled to open its doors in July.

It will focus on driving awareness and early diagnosis of sleep disorders through clinical research, training, and a full spectrum of sleep medicine services.

With the aim of improving the state of health and well-being in the region, the Asean Sleep Research & Competence Centre (ASRCC) will constitute four sub-sections — Training Academy, Clinical Research Centre, Tele-medicine Centre, and Corporate Services Centre.

“We often forget to acknowledge the role of a good night’s sleep and its effects on our health.

“Research has shown that the quality and amount of sleep we have can affect our health, safety and productivity.

“The most common sleep disorder — obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) — is also closely linked to other diseases.

“For example, moderate-to-severe OSA patients have a three-fold increase in the risk of hypertension and a two-fold increase in the risk of heart failure.

“As such, sleep disorders are a clear concern across different fields of medicine. I believe the upcoming centre may help hospitals across the region to provide new levels of understanding in the diagnosis and management of sleep disorders,” said UMSC chief executive officer Prof Datuk Amin Jalaludin.

According to a recent Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research survey of 289 bus drivers, 44.3% were found to have sleep disorders.

Confiden t: Zainal foresees the centre will act as a catalyst to attract more like-minded centres.

Road accidents are one of the significant impacts of OSA.

Other sleep disorders, such as insomnia, parasomnia, and narcolepsy, also interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning, causing people to become less productive at work, irritable, depressed and sleepy behind the wheel.

TASRCC plans to open its doors for the screening and management of OSA, for public vehicle drivers and will work with the government to ensure such drivers undergo compulsory OSA screening.

“Philips is constantly seeking to find meaningful solutions and partnerships to improve health and well-being.

“The ASRCC is a great example of a partnership that will improve the lives of patients with sleep disorders.

“We believe this will also help relieve the cost of healthcare in the economy,” said Philips Malaysia managing director Naeem Shahab Khan.

“I am confident this centre will act as a catalyst to attract more like-minded centres and its contributions would be invaluable, offering Malaysians high value jobs and specialised training opportunities, in line with our Economic Transformation Prog–ramme,” said InvestKL chief execu­tive officer Zainal Amanshah.