Sleep apnea costly if untreated
CDC says driving while drowsy is dangerous and preventable.
Related article: Sleep disorder business growing rapidly in Dayton area
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sleep apnea hurts businesses when workers can't concentrate or even stay awake on the job — especially when the job is driving.
It hurts bottom lines because "undiagnosed sleep apnea leads to a roughly two-fold increase in medical expenses," largely for heart, mental and diabetic disorders, the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews reported in 2004.
But besides being prevalent, sleep apnea is often undetected. It's not on most doctors' short lists for unexplained hypertension, for example. It rarely even occurs to the people who have it.
"They just get used to living with the headaches and being tired all day," said Dr. Daniel Whitmer, often the first to suspect apnea as a family practitioner. "It's becoming very common in our practice."
If any obese patient has excessive daytime sleepiness, high blood pressure or headaches, Whitmer said sleep apnea is a strong possibility.
We don't take sleep disorders seriously enough, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests. Complaining about them may seem wimpy, but the CDC says, "sufficient sleep is not a luxury — it is a necessity."
The trucking industry takes sleep apnea seriously since recent studies indicated it makes people two to seven times more likely to fall asleep at the wheel. The U.S. Department of Transportation is establishing strict guidelines for screening, treating and monitoring truckers, said Whitmer, who does truckers' mandatory physical exams.
"Typically, when a truck goes off the road, the trucker fell asleep at the wheel," said Jerry O'Ryan, principal owner of Physician Sleep Diagnostic Centers in Centerville. More than 1 in 4 truckers have at least moderate sleep apnea, a 2002 survey found, and it's severe in nearly 1 of every 20.
But other workers, such as health professionals and anyone who operates heavy machinery, can be dangerous without enough sleep, O'Ryan said. Even if they don't doze off, Whitmer said, sleep-deprived people have impaired reflexes and judgment.
Irregular sleep harms overall health so much, the CDC calls shift work a cancer risk.
And driving while drowsy? The CDC has something to say about that, too: "as dangerous — and preventable — as driving while intoxicated."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2129 or klamb@DaytonDailyNews.com.
