Sleep apnea is a condition which involves the obstruction of a person’s airwaves while asleep. Thought to be caused by obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, this disease goes undiagnosed in over 80 percent of people who suffer from it. Truck drivers are particularly affected due to their stressful jobs as well as an inability to wind down after a long day’s work. The danger with sleep apnea lies in its potential to cause cognitive difficulties while on the road.
Sleep apnea usually happens at night and leads to the blockage of the airwaves. When this happens, a person can find themselves waking up a few times a night to hundreds of times a night. These nightly awakenings can sometimes happen in microseconds and be hardly noticeable until the day after.
Here are some of the most common symptoms of sleep apnea:
- Fatigue even after sleeping for over eight hours
- Irritability
- Snoring
- Depression
- Being easily distracted
- Personality changes
- Being unable to pay attention to the road
- Morning headaches
- Poor memory
- Daytime sleepiness
- A dip in one’s sex drive
Sleep apnea and truck drivers go hand in hand. The FMCSA released statistics that drivers who got treatment for this condition saw a 73 percent reduction in accidents. In addition, sleep apnea is thought of as being one of the leading causes of the 4,000 deaths caused yearly by truck accidents.
Sleep apnea affects truck drivers in the following ways:
- Drivers are unable to react fast should they be in danger of getting involved in an accident
- Sleep apnea may make it hard for drivers to concentrate or focus on their driving
- Sleep apnea impairs judgment on the road
The fact is that sleep apnea is a large contributor of accidents on our roads. If you or a loved one was injured by a truck driver, you may be able to sue for money damages. Please call us today on 877-561-3004 for more information. Thanks, and we look forward to hearing from you.