NATCO TRUST SLEEP LAB @ Guntur General Hospital

• NATCO Trust Sleep lab provides free services to common people suffering from disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea amongst others

•          One of the few sleep labs available in India’s government hospitals

•          Patients are required to spend the night at the lab (a minimum of seven hours is required)
•        Through sleep study, the specialist tries to ascertain the root cause of sleep deprivation

Tucked away in a cozy corner of the vast premises of the Guntur General Hospital, Andhra Pradesh, a sleep lab tries to understand the mechanisms of one of the most fundamental needs of any human being – sleep!

Funded by the Natco Trust in 2017, it is one of the few sleep labs available in India’s government hospitals and provides free services to common people suffering from disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea amongst others. This is the only government run sleep lab in Guntur apart from a couple of private facilities.

Sleep deprivation has a huge impact on a person’s health and can lead to many complications including depression, hypertension, metabolic and physiological disorders. Sleep lab tries to understand the cause of sleeplessness and recommends a course of treatment.

The sleep lab in the hospital is equipped with a bed, as well as equipment that can help detect sleep problems by monitoring brain activity, eye movement, heart rate, snoring patterns and body movements.

During the test, the technicians and technologists monitor patients' sleep in a variety of ways, to help diagnose disorders. A lab technician will hook up an assortment of electrodes to the patient's skin and scalp, along with two belts to encircle the chest and waist. These are to measure how much effort the patient exerts to breathe while sleeping, and another attachment called an oximeter measures the level of oxygen in the patient’s blood.

Chaitanya Koduri, who works with the patients at the lab says that the requirement of sleep is different at various stages of life and 6-8 hours of continuous sleep is a requisite for most adults. He explains, “The sleep lab records the ocular, limb and respiratory movements of a person and addresses the issues which hinder sleep. We advise people on unhygienic sleep practices and recommend the necessary course of action.”  

Sleeplessness can occur due to irregularities in three areas – pulmonology, cardiology and neurology. Through a polysomnogram or sleep study, the specialist tries to ascertain the root cause of sleep deprivation.

With the use of sensor belts on chest and abdomen, one can track the oxygen usage, variations in which would imply an pulmonological imbalance. The ECG, heart and pulse rate are used to check cardiology imbalances while brain activity like sleep rhythms and stages, irregularities in which would mean a neurological issue.

The patients are required to spend the night at the lab (a minimum of seven hours is required) and are advised to relax with their eyes closed as most of them can’t sleep through the night. After the results are out, they are diagnosed as normal, mild and severe and treatment ranging from surgery to medicines are prescribed to them.

In 2019, the sleep lab saw 49 people avail the services, in 2019 (from January to April) 18 people have been admitted so far. Providing care around the clock, this intervention by NatcoTrust  has been extremely useful in detecting and diagnosing an issue which is not talked about much but causes grave problems to those grappling with it.