The Pros And Cons Of Sleep Aids

According to National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR) an estimated 70 million Americans suffer from sleep problems, in which 60 percent are chronic disorders. The NCSDR also estimates $15.9 billion to the national health care bill are correlated to sleep disorders, sleep deprivation, and generalized sleepiness. Consequently, this has increased the cost of lost work production, accidents connected to lack of sleep, and/or contribute to other health problems (National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, 2016).

According to Vila (2006), data through the year 2003 indicated that more officers were killed by “unattended adverse events than during the commission of felonies.” Fatigue resulting from reduced sleep, both in duration and quality, is a significant factor in unintentional injuries and fatalities in the law enforcement community. Two hundred eighty seven (287) of the officers involved in the study reported being involved in a motor vehicle collision during the follow up period. Fatigue and drowsiness resulting from sleep disorders is believed to be a contributing factor in a significant number of these collisions. Across 2009-2010, more than a third of line of duty deaths were attributed to motor vehicle crashes (NLEMF, 2010). Sleepiness and fatigue are major factors in motor vehicle collisions and drivers suffering from excessive sleepiness are not only involved in more collisions, but the collisions are often more serious and result in more severe injuries (Drake, 2010). While, officers involved in the study regarded drowsy driving to be as serious and as dangerous as drunk driving, almost half of the participants reported falling asleep while driving 1-2 times a month due to excessive sleepiness (JAMA, 2011). The loss of only two hours of sleep over just a one week period was found to have the same decrease in performance comparable with individuals after 24 hours of staying awake.

We also may not know that the impact of a medicine can last long after any immediate effects have worn off. For example, we may take an OTC cold medicine at night in order to sleep better. We may assume that, come morning, the depressant effect of the medication is out of our system and that we are fine to go about our business. That isn’t always the case; studies have shown slowed reaction times and drowsiness can last up to a full day after taking an OTC medication designed to induce sleep. If we drive while in this slightly impaired state, we could potentially harm others or ourselves because we are literally falling asleep behind the wheel.

Researchers at Brigham and Women 's Hospital examined sleep disorders and how they affected the health and safety of 4,957 state and local law enforcement officers in the United States and Canada. the researchers found that just over 40 percent of

The use of any medication that has the potential for misuse or abuse is of critical consideration when working with individuals in recovery. Specifically, if an individual is open with a counselor, prescribing physician, or psychiatrist, about their past substance abuse and dependency, they in turn have placed a large amount of trust in these professionals related to appropriate treatment and decision-making. One of the primary issues facing individuals recovering from substance abuse, particularly in the early stages, is that of insomnia or sleep disorders. Kolla et Al. (2014) noted that while 47% of individuals in the beginning of recovery experience insomnia, this number

Thank you very much for referring Pamela on for her long-term issues with sleep. She describes both sleep onset and sleep maintenance issues and has essentially free running circadian rhythm. She will go to bed anywhere from 10.00pm to 2.00am and have a lot of trouble getting to sleep. She does find though that if she goes to bed at a later time, particularly 2.00am, that she does sleep better and will often then arise from bed at between 9.00am and 10am. She arises unrefreshed and has excessive daytime sleepiness throughout the day and will often fall asleep in passive situations. Reassuringly, she is not drowsy whilst driving.

As these straphangers phone footage shows the 2016 collision on New Jersey Transit and a 2013 collision on the Metro North led to chaos, injuries, and death. These three incidents have allegedly all been linked to the engineers having sleep apnea. I interviewed the president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Here are his thoughts.

Obesity is a significant contributing risk factor for a higher prevalence of fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in the general population. Obesity is also linked to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). These associations represent significant occupational hazards during the performance of complex tasks such as, piloting an aircraft, driving trucks, and operating public transit vehicles, which require workers to have constant focus, attention and vigilance (Dinges et al., 1997; Dagan et al., 2006; Cohen et al., 2010). Therefore, even a slight increase in risk could have substantial impact on the population attributable risk, given the incidence rate of fatigue related crashes and the high prevalence of obesity among drivers (Dixon et al., 2007). The Institute of Medicine (IOM) provided estimates that approximately 20% of all serious injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes are associated with drowsy driving (Garbarino et al., 2001). The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) gave evidence that over 30% of truck driver fatal crashes are fatigue

Narcolepsy is the third most common sleep disorder among patients who seek treatment when going to a sleep clinic. People all over the world suffer from this sleep disorder, yet the pervasiveness of narcolepsy varies. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, nearly 1 in every 2000 people suffer from narcolepsy in the United States (Gordon, Doghramji, Lieberman, 2007). One of the biggest issues with narcolepsy is that although it may be as prevalent as other medical problems such as multiple sclerosis, it is still highly undertreated and underdiagnosed (Gordon, et. al 2007). Despite not knowing the exact cause of this disease, researchers have identified multiple symptoms that can lead to a diagnosis of narcolepsy.

Not receiving a full nights rest before waking up and driving to work or school early in the morning can simulate effects similar to driving under the influence of drugs which can lead to traffic collisions (Kendall Hamilton

The author created fear by listing many dangerous consequences of losing sleep. Using statistics, the author named negative repercussions of lack of sleep in the daily world. For example, the author stated that many car accidents are caused by drowsy drivers.

Most frequent times for the drowsy driving to take effect is either early in the morning or late at night when that drowsiness is overtaking; The body’s natural sleeping period is around these times as well. “Sleepiness also can peak in the middle of the afternoon. Older adults are more likely to have a drowsy-driving accident in the mid-afternoon” (Drowsy Driving, page 1). There are several cases as to where the drivers that are drowsy don’t often avoid accidents and also veer off the side of the road. These kinds of crashes though are more frequent in younger people with children. Though it is more frequent to do this with children, it is also two times more likely for a man to partake in this action instead of a woman. The age group that this typically happens around can vary between 18 and 29. Not only is it irresponsible to drive drowsy, it can be pricey too. Millions of dollars have been awarded to families due to them being a victim of a crash in drowsy driving. “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimated that 100,000 police reported crashes that are the direct result of driver fatigue each year” (Page 2). There is almost no police training so they can noticeably spot out signs of drowsy driving. More than ⅓ of people have fallen asleep at the wheel and much more than that have gotten into the car drowsy. “Drowsy driving has resulted in 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and 12.5 billion in monetary losses” (page 5).

Up to 60% of Americans say they have driven while sleepy within the last year, and 37% admit to having actually fallen asleep at the wheel. The National Highway Safety Administration estimates that falling asleep while driving is responsible for around 100,000 accidents each year in the USA alone, including 71,000 injuries and over 1,500 deaths. In fact, an estimated one-fifth of all road accidents can be attributed to drowsiness, and it is possible that even this is an underestimation. This is because State reporting practices are inconsistent. There is little or no police training in identifying drowsiness as a crash factor. Every state currently addresses sleepiness in some way in their crash report forms but each of these vary from state to state and tend to be inconsistent. Something as small as the one-hour shift to daylight-saving time each spring has been associated with a 20% increase in vehicle accidents on the following Monday. Now you may be saying that it’s ridiculous that so many people could fall asleep at the wheel, after with enough willpower people can keep themselves awake. While that is true most of the time, it isn’t after about 48 hours. After 48 hours your body starts to go through something called a micro sleep every few minutes, an involuntary pass out that lasts from 5 to 10 seconds where you jolt yourself awake. This is beyond dangerous, imagine going over 30 mph like that, you’d likely crash. An even scarier fact is that 45% of all men have admitted to falling into a micro-sleep, this is most likely what causes all of those accidents mentioned

I remember one time over the summer I watched this tv show, the main character wanted to see what it was like to nap and drive, drink and drive and, smoke and drive. The effects and damage was quite astonishing really, drinking and driving was in the middle of damage, smoking and driving was the least damage and napping was the most. I wanted to try to see what napping can do to you when you drive. So one time I was going to my recruiters office and I closed my eyes to simulate napping. Literally about three seconds later I was in the oncoming lane and was scared to death of what might have happened if I really did sleep. After that I never did anything like that

An article that was used made the statement that pills prescribed or bought OTC to cure or prevent insomnia can actually increase a person’s risk of death. (#4, 2010) Heath Ledger’s death in 2008 caused a lot of confusion and curiosity as what sleeping pills are really doing for people. When an autopsy returned after Ledger’s death, the results showed that he had Xanax, Valium, Restoril, and several other drugs to aid his insomnia, anxiety, and depression. With this outcome, it is safe to say that mixing prescription medicine and multiple amounts of those medicines could be fatal. Another article said that Americans suffer from insomnia more, compared to other countries. (#8, 2012) With this being said, Americans should start to wonder why that is true and how it can be changed.