Healthcare | Sunday 24 March, 2019 12:15 pm |

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, is turning its attention to make better sleep a reality for everyone in Saudi Arabia. With sleep apnea syndrome a disorder which is common among Saudis and yet is little understood and often goes untreated, it has forged a partnership with Fakeeh Care to enable patients across the Kingdom to take a more active role in their sleep apnea therapy using innovative end-to-end diagnostic and therapeutic solutions to manage and treat OSA. 

 

Ozlem Fidanci, Philips Chief Executive Officer, Middle East and Turkey, said, “Millions of people know that sleep is critical to their health, and are searching for ways to get better rest. From identifying individual sleep needs to offering clinically proven solutions, Philips is on a mission to make better sleep a reality for everyone. For 35 years, we’ve developed revolutionary sleep products rooted in clinical evidence and data-driven insights, making us the proud leader in sleep innovation. Our portfolio continues to grow – and we’re expanding our reach in order to help people everywhere sleep better and live happier, healthier lives. We are committed to working closely with Fakeeh Care and its patients, and we’re developing sleep apnea therapy solutions that not only achieve clinical efficacy and streamline care, but ones that are designed to be attractive to use night after night so patients can enjoy better days.”

 

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. If individuals  snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night's sleep, the chances they suffer from sleep apnea are high. There are several forms of sleep apnea that occur with patients, however the most common type is Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA, which occurs when a person’s throat muscles intermittently relax and block the airway during sleep causing a variety of daytime and nightime symptoms to arise as a result of sleep deprivation or inconsistent sleep patterns. 

 

The most common signs and symptoms of OSA include loud snoring, episodes where individuals stop breathing during sleep, abrupt awakenings accompanied by gasping or choking, awakening with a dry mouth of sore throat, morning headache and irritability, excessive daytime sleepiness, difficulty concentrating during the day, mood changes, such as depression or irritability, high blood pressure, and nighttime sweating[3]. 

 

OSA is a very serious illness that should be treated with the utmost care, sleep deprivation and inconsistent sleep patterns not only lead to a number of health related disorders such as increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes but also risks related to a persons daily life such as an inability to concentrate and increased irritability during the day.

 

Philips’ partnership with Fakeeh Care is focused on providing OSA patients with end-to-end diagnosis and therapy to help enable them in taking an active role in their sleep apnea therapy. Individuals need to book appointments with Fakeeh Care’s sleep centres across the Kingdom, and upon diagnosis, patients will be addmitted for an overnight diagnostic and theraputic stay at the care center during which their sleep patterns will be monitored and simultaneously treated using Philips innovations. The data and information collected during the patients stay will be used by sleep experts to modify the settings of the devices patients will use at their convenience to continue their treatment therapy at home.