Drowsy driving is a very dangerous and under addressed problem facing our population. Each year thousands of accidents are caused by momentary fatigue-related lapses in attention and drivers simply falling asleep behind the wheel. Now companies are taking a proactive approach to keeping drivers awake.
Long hours on the road increase the risk for falling asleep whether you’re a trucker or just an average driver. A vehicle moving at 60 miles an hour can travel hundreds of feet in just seconds so nodding off momentarily can be fatal. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration more than 100,000 police-reported crashes, resulting in 1,550 deaths and another 71,000 injuries each year are caused by drowsy driving.
Mercedes Benz recently developed a system to be integrated into their cars which can sense steering angle trends and corrections made by the driver. By analyzing these trends, the system can recognize variations that may indicate drowsiness and alert the driver. Other companies such as Saab are developing similar systems.
For those of us without Mercedes, there are aftermarket solutions available. Devices like the NoNap or DozeAlert can be worn over a person’s ear. These device monitors the angle of the driver’s head and sounds a buzzer when the person nods off.
The Anti Sleep Pilot requires more interaction with the driver. The hockey puck sized device is programed and placed on the dashboard. The driver must respond to cues by touching the device when prompted. It determines reaction time and cross-references this information with risk factors for falling asleep. Then a recommendation to take a break is given.
These are all novel ways to address the problem of drowsy driving, however the root cause is not being fixed. People are too fatigued and distracted in the car. Often there can be an underlying sleep disorder causing excessive fatigue. People with Sleep Apnea have double the risk of being involved in a car crash than those who don’t suffer from the condition. Before you get behind the wheel, make sure you get tested for sleep disorders. You might save a life.
Sleep Suffers During Wartime Deployment – The stress of war is affecting our troop’s sleep and peace of mind, making it harder to adjust upon their return home.
“After a 0-2 start to the season, things are looking bleaker by the day for the Minnesota Vikings. 40-year-old Quarterback Brett Favre is showing his age, and his primary target Sidney Rice won’t catch a pass until at least November.
The latest let-down involves the feel-good story of the NFL’s season opener. NBC’s Andrea Kremer reported mid-game that Percy Harvin found the cure for debilitating migraines. The athletic wide-receiver had sleep apnea and didn’t know it.
Harvin was diagnosed after collapsing on the field during practice last month. Numerous reports claimed CPAP treatment would solve the chronic migraines that plagued him since childhood. Harvin would be a whole new player capable of living up to his sky-high potential.
Then the news broke Wednesday that the 2008 first-round pick and future franchise wide receiver did not participate in team practice because of migraines.
Harvin’s health issues are huge blow for the Vikings, who have scored only 19 points over the first two regular season games.
Currently, it’s not entirely clear why the migraines have returned. There are two likely possibilities:
a) Harvin didn’t sleep with CPAP previous to practice
b) Something other than sleep apnea is causing the migraines
It’s disappointing that Harvin is having migraines again, but the sleep apnea diagnosis is a huge step forward for his health. After all, treatment can save his life.”
A recent news story from Westfield, Massachusetts vividly illustrates how the danger of falling behind the wheel. From WWLP 22 in Massachusetts:
“An SUV barreled through a Westfield business around 6:43 Sunday evening. Sgt. Raymond Manos told 22News that 42-year-old Tina Richard of Ludlow crashed her Jeep Grand Cherokee through the Four Mile Country Store on Russell Road in Westfield. Her four-year-old daughter was in the car with her. Both were transported to Noble Hospital with minor injuries. Sgt. Manos said Richard passed a field sobriety test. He said there was no indication that she was drunk or had abused drugs. He said she may have fallen asleep. Luckily, the store was closed and no one was inside at the time of the crash.”
Driving while sleep deprived can inhibit reaction times as much as driving while drunk. Also it has been shown that having Obstructive Sleep Apnea doubles your risk of having a serious crash with personal injuries. If you feel tired while driving, pull over and take a nap. Driving while drowsy puts everyone’s life at risk. For more information about drowsy driving or to set up an appointment to be tested for a sleep disorder contact Oregon Sleep Associates.
Anyone who has worked an overnight shift knows how difficult it is to adjust back to a normal schedule. You feel like a sleep deprived zombie, never able to fully fit in during the waking hours. New evidence suggests that the toll taken may also be passed along to businesses in the form of lost productivity.
The research, as reported by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, found that the key for maximum productivity is to schedule shift start times that allow the worker to sleep right before reporting for duty. The study used a mathematical formula to see the effects of 24 start times, each varying by one-hour increments. The hypothetical work schedule lasted six days. Each shift was nine hours and started at the same time each day. The findings suggest that the best shift start times begin in the late morning or early afternoon, whereas shifts that begin between 8 PM and 12 AM were found to be the most limiting to both sleep and work performance.
The lead investigator on the study, Angela Bowen, suggests that government labor regulations may need be changed to take into account different shift start times. “Shifts of equal duration differ in how fatiguing they are depending on the time of day when they are scheduled,” said Bowen. “The same limitation on the number of duty hours may be either overly restrictive if during the day or too liberal if during the night.”
If you currently are an overnight shift worker, the AASM suggests taking steps to maximize your sleep time. Wear sunglasses on the way home and minimize light and sound exposure in your bedroom. Try to sleep immediately after your shift in the late morning until the early evening. On days off, do not switch back completely to a normal schedule. Instead, try a compromise by going to sleep about 3 AM.
Every year, especially during the summer months, millions of people take trips all across the globe. After meticulous planning , packing, and preparation they board planes towards their destinations, hoping for an enjoyable vacation away.But unfortunately, many of these travelers will experience something unexpected that can disrupt and even ruin their time off: Jet Lag
Travelers experience “Jet Lag” because of a disruption of their Circadian Rhythm. The Circadian Rhythm is the 24 hour cycle that helps regulate the body’s sleep and wake times. This cycle uses light to essentially “set its clock”. As a person travels between time zones, their body has trouble adapting to the different environment. For example, if you are normally in the Pacific time zone and travel east to New York, your bedtime is now 3 hours ahead of when you would normally go to sleep. Conversely, if you travel west 3 hours, you may find it very hard to stay up since you are staying awake 3 hours past your bedtime.
Jet lag can make people tired and angry, sometimes ruining what is supposed to be a good vacation. Fortunately, there are some things one can do to combat the effects of Jet Lag. Here are some tips to help you deal with this problem:
Select a flight that arrives in the early evening and go to bed at 10 PM local time.
Anticipate the time change by getting up and going to bed at times closer to your destination’s time zone for several days before your trip.
Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and heavy exercise around bedtime.
Bring earplugs and blindfolds to help dampen noise and light during sleep.
Get outdoors and into the sunlight. Daylight will help regulate your biological clock.
Examples of simulated x-ray images of threat bags with typical hit rates. A: gun with low target difficulty in the center (HR was 75%), B: knife with low target difficulty in upper right corner (56%), C: gun with high target difficulty in lower right corner (50%), D: knife with high target difficulty in lower left corner (32%)
The job of a Transportation Security Administration luggage screener has to be one of the most tedious and thankless professions. All day long they stare at an X-ray screen with literally thousands of pieces of luggage passing through. Each piece is completely unique, yet they are expected to accurately pick out dangerous objects among the blurry images. Add to that the constant pressure and anger directed towards them by the hoards of annoyed travelers passing through the checkpoints. The job requires constant vigilance and attention to detail, which is why it is especially important that the TSA screeners be well-rested.
However, as research developed by the University of Pennsylvania and the Department of Homeland Security shows, even a one-time lack of sleep can seriously affect the ability to detect threats in luggage. The researchers took 5800 X-ray images of luggage and organized them into batches of 200 slides, 25% of which contained images of weapons hidden in the bags. Then study subjects went through the images on a simulated X-ray terminal. The response rate and times were measured for each subject when they were well-rested and when they had been deprived of sleep. The results were startling; the average detection rate decreased significantly and the false positive rate increased when the subjects were working the night shift or had been sleep deprived. The study authors concluded that “night work and sleep loss adversely affect the accuracy of detecting complex real world objects among high levels of background clutter.” They go on to caution that in a real world environment “fatigue in luggage screening personnel may pose a threat for air traffic safety unless countermeasures for fatigue are deployed.”
For more information on Shift Work and how it affects job performance visit the newsletter archive at www.oregonsleepassociates.com.
Since Starbucks Coffee® opened its first location in 1971, the company has ballooned to have more than 15,000 stores in 44 countries. In recent years sales of energy drinks such as Rockstar® and Redbull® have reached well over 3.5 billion dollars annually. While slick advertising and aggressive business tactics can help explain the successes of these products, there is one underlying reason for it all: Caffeine addiction.
Caffeine has been called the most popular drug in the world and is used by over 80% of the population. It is found naturally in over 60 plants including the coffee bean, tea leaf, and cacao pod. All over the world people consume caffeine on a daily basis in coffee, tea, chocolate, soft drinks, and some drugs. Because caffeine is a stimulant, most people use it after waking up in the morning or to remain alert during the day. While it is important to note that caffeine cannot replace sleep, it can temporarily make us feel more alert by blocking sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain and increasing adrenaline production. Once in the body, caffeine will persist for several hours: it takes about 6 hours for one half of the caffeine to be eliminated.
Though there are numerous studies to support the idea that caffeine causes physical dependence, traditionally it has been thought of as having fairly benign health effects. However, in recent years more evidence has surfaced on the damaging prospects of caffeine use. In one 2007 study by Kaiser Permanente, researchers reported that the risk of miscarriage by pregnant women doubles with just moderate caffeine use. They advised that pregnant women reduce or eliminate their caffeine intake. Also, the substance has been found to increase blood sugar levels in people with Type II Diabetes, making it harder to control that disease.
Doctors recommend limiting caffeine use to less than 200 mg per day, or about the equivalent of 3 cups of coffee. Try not to consume any caffeinated items within 8 hours of your bedtime.
Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day and green beer:
Benjamin Franklin famously said, “Beer is living proof God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Maybe so, but he also said “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Now new research shows that alcohol and sleep make lousy bedfellows.
In fact, scientists now say that too much alcohol affects the body’s circadian rhythm. The Circadian rhythm is the 24 hour cycle that synchronizes sleep and wake times depending on exposure to light. Researchers at Kent State University recently conducted a study on the effects of alcohol on sleep. They found that even low levels of alcohol intake can affect your sleep cycle.
The researchers used hamsters as test subjects because their sleep cycles are set by exposure to light, just like humans. The hamsters were given different levels of alcohol and then were exposed to bright and dim lights. The hamsters that were inebriated had the hardest time shifting their sleep/wake rhythms after the exposure to dim light. The more they drank, the harder it was to adjust.
Professor David Glass, who worked on the study, says: “Hamsters’ circadian rhythms are very clear and predictable and they’re easy to maintain in the lab. They also love to drink alcohol.” The rodents reactions act as a model for how humans’ body clocks are affected by excessive drinking.
“Part of the reason for problems in an alcoholic’s life is the impact alcohol has on the circadian clock. We think alcohol prevents light information necessary for proper clock activity from reaching the brain. This information is critical for daily activity.” Alcohol blocks sensory information from stimulating the brain’s control centers. “Because the body has trouble determining what time of day it is, it can’t function properly”, explains Professor Glass.
To help avoid alcohol’s negative effects on sleep, abstain from drinking within 3-4 hours of bedtime and always use moderation.
For many of us, the work week lasts from Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM. We punch our time cards and head home for dinner, relaxation, and sleep. But for some, the day is just beginning. Shift work refers to the employment practice of utilizing round the clock shifts to maximize output. This practice has increased over the last century as more industries requiring such hours expand. It is estimated that 30% of workers in some industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, civil services, and hospitality have schedules other than the day shift. But what effect does this have on a person’s health and well-being?
Researchers have found that working the night shift adds many complications to maintaining health. Food available late at night is often designed for convenience rather than health, exercise options are usually limited, and many shift work jobs are sedentary. Perhaps most importantly, sleep is compromised in both total sleep time and through disruptions to its quality. Prolonged lack of sleep caused by night work is referred to as “Shift Workers Sleep Disorder”. The body’s circadian rhythm, the regulatory system of wake and sleep, is thrown off by shift work and exposure to light at the wrong times. Sleeping during the day is often very difficult because of outside distractions such as sound, light, and daytime responsibilities. The consequences can be serious; a study released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in December 2007 stated that shift work may be tied to causing cancer. Lack of sufficient sleep can also hinder the body’s ability to fight cancer and repair damaged cells.
Unfortunately, many shift workers have no alternative but to work this schedule. However, there are some things you can do to lessen the detrimental effects of shift work on your body and spirit:
· If possible, try to work fewer shifts in a row. It’s better to work a few longer shifts with more days off to recover.
· If your lifestyle permits it, maintain the night schedule on your days off too.
· Eat healthier foods at night by packing a lunch rather than relying on fast food.
· Keep active and try to exercise during the night; music can help liven a monotonous routine.
· If your job permits it, take short naps during your breaks.
· Maintain a healthy sleep environment: cover windows or use a sleep mask to block light, wear earplugs and turn off phone ringers to keep things quiet.
· Avoid using excess caffeine or other stimulants; these may give an initial rush but tend to wear off quickly and disrupt sleep when it’s needed.
People working the night shifts may also want to be tested for an underlying sleep disorder such as sleep apnea. These disorders may be preventing the workers from getting a restful sleep during their sleep period.
