Sleep Apnea and Its Effects on Driver Performance
By Matthew Harrell
With all the attention usually given to driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, most drivers neglect to pay attention to another potentially deadly threat: sleep deprivation. While many factors such as stress, side effects from medication or excitement may cause sleep deprivation, it could be due to a potentially more serious disorder called sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a disorder caused by the muscles in the back of the throat relaxing, therefore reducing or stopping the flow of air while asleep. The reduction of air flow forces the body to stop breathing. Breathing may cease for periods of 10 to 30 seconds or more and 20 or more times per hour. This creates a shortage of oxygen in the bloodstream and brain throughout the night. While long periods of not breathing may occur, people with sleep apnea rarely realize that they momentarily wake up gasping for air.
Sleep apnea has several major side effects such as extreme daytime fatigue, morning or evening headaches and not feeling refreshed after waking up from a normal night’s sleep. Anyone who might observe a person sleep that has sleep apnea may observe symptoms such as loud snoring, moderate to long spells of not breathing or sudden gasps of breath.
The obvious concern for those in the transportation industry is that sleep apnea may be the cause of numerous car and truck accidents that have no “official” cause. Sleep related crashes are unique because, unlike other accidents, they cannot be detected by a simple test. Crash-scene officials generally can only identify the cause of a crash as sleep deprivation if the driver knows he or she fell asleep or if there are no skid marks (which imply that the driver did not see the accident coming.) This further presents a problem as people with sleep apnea often fall asleep without warning, leaving drivers clueless as to how the accident happened.
The good news for those who suffer from sleep apnea is that the disorder is treatable. Many hospitals have sleep disorder centers that specialize in diagnosing and treating such disorders. In order to diagnose the problem, a polysomnogram is the most likely detection method. This procedure is done overnight and monitors any irregularities in one’s sleep patterns.
After a diagnosis from the physician, if the condition is considered to be sleep apnea, there are a variety of treatment options. For mild cases of sleep apnea, the doctor may simply suggest that the patient lost weight or sleep on their side in order to help keep their throat open. However the most common treatment is using a continuous positive airway pressure machine (CPAP) while sleeping. The CPAP machine pumps air into a mask that is worn over the face in order to keep the throat passageway open while sleeping. This machine can be bothersome at first, but most users find it to be quite comfortable with time.
If you feel like you suffer from some form of sleep apnea, contact your local doctor immediately. He or she will be able to tell you whether you should consider being tested for sleep apnea.
About the Author:Matthew Harrell, Staff Writer for CareersinGear.com Magazine, is currently a senior at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Harrell performs industry research as well as conducts interviews and writes articles for CareersinGear.com Magazine and CareersinGear.com, leading sources for truck driving jobs and other trucking job search tools. For more articles by Matthew Harrell, check out the trucking news section in CareersinGear.com.
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