Friends Help Tackle Sleep Disorder

The treatment of sleep apnoea, a potentially serious sleep disorder interrupting normal breathing, has been further improved as a result of the purchase by the Friends of equipment costing £5,760. People with untreated sleep apnoea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times. As a result, the brain and the rest of the body may get insufficient oxygen. This can have a big impact on the quality of life and increase the risk of developing certain conditions, including high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, or type 2 diabetes. With the Friends’ purchase, the Respiratory Suite now has five such items of monitoring equip-ment, all in much demand.Patients can take the equipment home with them, where they apply disposable adhesive electrodes to various parts of their body when they go to bed.“All this specialist equipment makes a huge difference to diagnosis and quality of life, as well as cutting down on the use of NHS beds,” said Lead Physiologist Tracy Jones.“Sufferers can report being nagged at by their partners, forcing them to sleep in another room or even deciding to leave them! The condition can be that intolerable.” Pictured with the equipment are (left to right): Physiologist Vania Collins, Apprentice Physiologist Joanna Walters, Lead Physiologist Tracy Jones and Friends volunteer Maralyn Verstraeten.