KARACHI, Dec 31: Obesity can lead to sleep disorders, which in turn can result in de-compensation, said Dr Fayyaz Hussain of the Aga Khan University Hospital.

Dr Fayyaz was delivering a lecture at the 41st Annual Medical Symposium of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Wednesday. He said snorting and daytime somnolence in a patient with large collar size should not be taken lightly by medical practitioners.

In a presentation on "The Impact of Asthma Management Guidelines on the Prescribing Practices of Pakistani Physicians", Dr Fayyaz said that the doctors generally did not follow these guidelines properly. There was a serious lack of knowledge about asthma medications, he said.

Misconceptions about inhaler therapy and dietary factors were common, he said, and added that patients were prescribed unnecessary medicines. Dr Javaid Khan of the AKUH discussed at length how to approach a patient with interstitial lung disease. He highlighted the importance of high-resolution CT scan for diagnosis.

Dr Shahina Qayyum of the JPMC's chest medicine unit presented a survey report on "Tuberculosis: Knowledge, attitude and practice of doctors working in Sindh". She said chest X-ray was still given more importance than sputum microscopy for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Despite claims by 83 per cent of the respondents that they were following the guidelines there was a lot of confusion in prescribing drugs, she said. Dr Shahina said continuing medical education regarding DOTS had reached less than half the doctors and the programme was still not considered feasible by 37.6 per cent of the respondents.

Under a study on "The Economic Impact of Pulmonary Tuberculosis", it was stated that the TB was a disease of the young and illiterate, with the average family of nine members and monthly income of Rs4,000. Due to the disease, 26.27 per cent of the patients lose their jobs.

The average expense on travel worked out as Rs44.5 per visit for the patients during treatment. Up to 40 visits by patients were required during treatment.

The children of five per cent of the patients had to discontinue their education, owing to the financial problems faced by the whole family. Dr Tatheer Zohra, Dr Seema Mumtaz, Dr Fateh Mohammad and Dr Ahmed Mateen also spoke on the occasion.