Pilot Fatigue to Blame?

If you learned upon landing that your plane's pilots had overshot the airport by 150 miles because they fell asleep at the controls, what would you feel?

Terrified?
Shocked?
Lucky?

I'd feel a mix of the above. In this week's latest hit to the airline industry, a Northwest flight to Minneapolis overshot its destination and pilot fatigue could be to blame. Of course, the pilots are saying they were in an argument at the time and that's the reason for the blunder (not that I'd like to see my pilots so distracted over a "debate" that they still overshoot the runway!).

Fatigue among pilots has been a recurring theme this year, punctuated earlier this year by the deadly crash near Buffalo that was partly blamed on fatigue (that crash was blamed on pilot error).

The Federal Aviation Administration is rewriting its rules that govern flight time for pilots and their required rest periods in order to reduce the chances of fatigue. It will be the first update to the rules in decades and will utilize research that wasn't available before.

Does that make me feel better the next time I fly?

A little, maybe. Trouble is, it can be hard to legislate such rules. And sometimes fatigue over a series of poorly slept nights can catch up to you days later. In other words, you could have a sleep-deprived weekend, feel okay on Monday but be a zombie on Tuesday when you're expected to perform - and the lives of countless others are in your hands.

I've written about shift workers a lot in the past. But those who have jobs that put the lives of many others at stake should be scrutinized to a much higher degree. If it's that easy to fall asleep at the controls of an airplane - without the airplane knowing (or its numerous flight attendants!), then I say, let's invent something that can keep check on that. With all the gadgets we have at our disposal today, can't we find one that can alert the crew on a flight when its captain has nodded off?

Just a thought. Now that would make me feel safer in the skies.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com

Related Topics:

• Sleep Disorders: Member Discussion
• Get the Sleep Well newsletter in your inbox weekly

Big Decisions After All-Nighters?

Imagine having to make a huge decision that may affect the lives of millions. Your constituents have voted with confidence in your ability represent them on issues like health care and education.

But after months of contentious debate, when the deadline nears, it comes time to make the critical decisions, there's nothing left to do but pull numerous all-nighters, eat poorly, and struggle to stay awake while you and your colleagues fight for a resolution.

Sound like a group project in college or business school? No wait - it is actually the State Senate!

This is what's been happening in states like California where budgets are running in the red and constitutional rules have forced legislators to lock themselves in the statehouse to get bills passed. California lawmakers have pulled at least six all-nighters so far this year.

On some of these nights, the atmosphere is more like a slumber party than a political arena, as some politicians sneak in a snore-laden snooze while others play solitaire, sing, or Twitter to the outside world - activities that may help them stay awake during discussion or debate, but might not help them focus as much as they would like on the task at hand.

Crazy? I think so. No good decision can be made by anyone operating with so much sleep deprivation, especially when it's not just one or two people here. We're talking about an entire assembly of lawmakers trying to do their job and make an impact on the health and welfare of all of us - the folks that elected them - to keep us safe and make sound decisions about our future. That's right: we trust them to make decisions about the health and welfare of others even though when it comes to their own sleep, they don't always make the best health decisions. A real case of "do as I say, not as I do."

We know this about sleep deprivation: there are real physiological and psychological effects as we deprive our bodies of a basic physical need. Our judgment isn't always the best. We know that we start to make bad food choices - we crave things like doughnuts and cookies - choices we might not make when well rested and energized. We do things like "go all in" at 3 a.m., a choice we might not make earlier in the evening. Our reaction time slows, our memory decreases, our bodies and minds slow down in an effort to preserve the energy we have left.

Here's what I see going on as a result of all that sleepiness:

• Bad moods fueling endless, pointless debates among cantankerous colleagues.


• An inability to think clearly and rationally.


• Abuse of caffeine, Visine, and junk food.


• Sporadic snoozing, leaving many missing out on important conversations that are necessary for arriving at effective decisions.

How's that for inspiring confidence in effective lawmaking? I've always been a big fan of napping, but falling fast asleep on the carpet of your Capitol building's floor just doesn't cut it.

Rest up, lawmakers. We've all got a lot of expectations resting on the political agenda these days. One way to ensure you arrive at good decisions is to get a good night's sleep. Every day of the year. Both in and out of the political forums.

Put sleep at the top of your personal healthcare reform agenda. Stop growing your personal sleep debt - we're counting on you to be at the top of your game. You can't be there when you're falling asleep on the job.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com

Related Topics:

• Sleep Disorders: Member Discussion
• Get the Sleep Well newsletter in your inbox weekly

The Secret to a Happy Marriage (and Healthy Self): Separate Beds? I Doubt it!

This topic is always popular: sleeping in separate beds for the sake of getting restful sleep and enjoying your partner even more as a result.

• Have you ever been awakened by your bed partner? (snoring, thrashing, moving around)
• Have you ever been the unintentional recipient of a battle by your bed partner in the middle of the night? (hit or punched as your bed partner physically plays out his dream without even knowing it)
• Have you ever gotten better sleep in your partner's absence?
• Have you ever slept on a couch because you couldn't get the sleep you needed in the same bed as your partner?
• Have you ever thought about sleeping in separate beds on a routine basis?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you're not alone (well, maybe you are alone now sleeping soundly in your own bed).

In 2005, the National Sleep Foundation began reporting on this trend in separate sleeping beds. A survey then showed that 23 percent of married Americans sleep alone, an increase from 12 percent in 2001. Glamour magazine also reported on a survey of builders and architects who predict that double master bedrooms will soon be the norm.

Then there's the report by British sleep specialist Dr. Neil Stanley at a recent conference that has lots of people talking on the Internet: married people suffer 50 percent more harmful sleep disturbances if they share a bed. And this does not bode well for the sufferer of poor sleep, as it can cause depression, heart disease, stroke, lung disorders and accidents.

No doubt about that. He could have just summed it all up by saying bed partners are hazardous to your health!

But I think this is a bit one-sided. I am not questioning the validity of his results, but there are some serious advantages to sleeping with a bed partner.

• In many cases this is the time for intimacy, from cuddling to sex, and it usually occurs in bed. Sure you can have "dates" for this, but how do you say "Honey I love you, thanks and Bye!"
• Sometimes this is one of the best times for communication. If you have been running around all day, and not had time to "catch up" with your partner, this is usually the best time to do it. Of course large emotional discussions are best out of the bedroom, but just everyday catching up is fine.
• While I can't put my finger on it, the mere fact that you are physically close to someone, feels like (no pun intended) it has a positive effect on any relationship. Think about what you are saying to someone when you refuse to sleep next to them.
• There is also one research study from Australia that shows men sleep better when they are sleeping next to someone.

Okay, so the separate bed thing may not be for everyone. But if you have a bad bed partner, and the last time you got a good night's sleep was when you were alone in your bed, then it may be time to look at this situation. Here is what I suggest:

If you are concerned that your bed partner may have a sleep disorder, a visit to a primary care physician and/or sleep specialist is the place to start to rule out potentially serious disorders like sleep apnea, periodic limb movement, or restless leg syndrome, or any other health issue that could be interfering with their (or your) sleep.

• If it is snoring that bothers your sleep, consider ear plugs, a sound machine, or some type of anti-snoring device.
• If it is their movement that bothers your sleep, consider a new mattress that reduces motion transfer.
• If they get up in the middle of the night and disturb you, consider two beds in the same room, or a mattress that reduces motion transfer.
• If they have a different schedule, consider scheduling changes, eye masks, book lights, etc.

Or, in the very least, opt for a bigger bed. You may be surprised by how well today's mattresses can accommodate two very different sleepers.

Here is what I know to be true above all else:

I have saved more marriages as a sleep specialist than I probably would have as a marital therapist, just by getting people back in bed, sleeping together!

Sweet Dreams.

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com

Related Topics:

• Sleep Disorders: Member Discussion
• Get the Sleep Well newsletter in your inbox weekly

Short Sleeper: Are You Fooling Yourself?

There are plenty of stories about famous short sleepers to go around. Among those who claim (or claimed, as some are no longer with us) that they do perfectly well on four hours of sleep are Jay Leno, Madonna, Michelangelo, Napoleon Bonaparte, Florence Nightingale, and Thomas Edison (whose invention - the light bulb - forever changed our sleep habits). Winston Churchill got by on six hours, and Leonardo DaVinci kept one of the most outrageously crazy sleep schedules, sleeping 15 minutes every four hours day and night.

If you're a short sleeper, which is technically defined as someone who gets fewer than 6 hours a night, are you living well off that brief sleep? Are you catching more Zs during the day in the form of a nap? (Which, by the way, is how some of the aforementioned geniuses got by. Churchill took a complete 1.5- to 2-hour nap in the afternoon-and he undressed and got into bed.)

Well, if you think you could use more sleep time, you're probably right. And science continues to reveal what sleep deprivation can do to us (other than make us tired and cranky). The National Sleep Foundation recently released an alert pointing to new evidence: people who average fewer than six hours a night could develop prediabetes. And you know what that leads to: full-fledged diabetes.

Granted, some people actually can do well with fewer than four hours of sleep, and those people are probably genetic anomalies - people programmed to avoid all the risks related to insufficient sleep. For them, four to six hours is sufficient.

But that, unfortunately, is not the case for the vast majority of the rest of us. Just as you don't hear about people who drink, smoke, and eat poorly living to the ripe old age of 100 very often, you don't hear about too many people who live like vampires and escape the ravages of that lifestyle. Those who claim they "get by" on little sleep are likely fooling themselves, but their bodies won't fool them.

So I ask you:

• How many hours of sleep are you getting on a regular basis?


• Do you feel refreshed when you wake up?


• Do you reach for caffeine, an energy drink, or a sugary snack in the afternoon?


• Are you having trouble losing weight or maintaining your ideal weight?


• Have you been diagnosed as prediabetic or diabetic but haven't changed your sleep habits?

May those answers inspire a lunch pad for making change. I'll give you wiggle room if you're about to change the world with an incredible invention you've been working on like mad, or if you're ruling the world as a great leader. But if you are... then it's highly unlikely - I'll make that impossible - that you're reading this blog.

Got ya. Now go get some more sleep!

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD, FAASM
The Sleep Doctor

This sleep article is also available at Dr. Breus's official blog, The Insomnia Blog.

Related Topics:

• Insomnia Raises Risk of High Blood Pressure
• Late Bedtimes Linked to Heart Disease
• Sleep Disorders: Member Discussion
• Get the Sleep Well newsletter in your inbox weekly