Click the links below to listen to Dr. Durmer’s other Healthy Explosion BlogTalkRadio segments.

Dr. Durmer Discussing Health Measures to Know for Possible Signs of Diabetes on BlogTalk Radio.
Dr. Durner Discussing Your Ability to Measure Your Blood Glucose and the Importance of Diet.
Dr. Dumer’s Advice for Someone Who has Diabetes.

Conducted by researchers in New Zealand at the University of Auckland, the study finds that electronic gadgets—such as TV, video games, and computers—increase the time it takes for children and teenagers to fall asleep, thus increasing their risk for insomnia and symptoms of daytime sleepiness. The researchers tracked the habits of 2,016 participants between the ages of 5 and 18. Participants reported their activities for the 90 minutes prior to sleep, which were then categorized into 3 groups: 1) Self-care 2) Non-screen sedentary time & 3) Screen sedentary time. Researchers found that the children and teenagers who spent the majority of their time before bed engaged in “screen sedentary time” had more difficulty falling asleep than those who were listed under categories 1 and 2.

The study’s findings reveal a serious problem that goes beyond trouble falling asleep. Prolonged time needed for sleep onset is an indication that your child may also be suffering from not enough sleep. A few extra minutes each night of wakefulness can add up to an hour or more of missed sleep each week. The study’s findings indicate a critical need for ensuring adequate sleep duration in children and teenagers, especially when paired with evidence from other studies linking insufficient sleep to behavioral problems later in childhood. Luckily, researchers believe they know the connection between electronics and the brain’s reluctance to fall asleep.

The blue light emitted from electronics is one reason for the heightened wakefulness after extended “screen sedentary time.” The body’s circadian rhythm—or internal clock—regulates the wake/sleep cycle for the body. The blue light from TVs, video games, and computers is interpreted as sunlight and disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm. This artificial sunlight actually prevents the body from releasing the hormones responsible for inducing sleep and limits the amount of sleep he/she gets. As a result of this limited sleep, your child will likely suffer from symptoms of daytime sleepiness which include:

• Grogginess
• Lowered attention span
• Decreased short-term memory
• Irritability

Below are a few tips to help your children get the healthy sleep their young bodies and minds need.

While the numbers have fluctuated slightly over the years, the pervasiveness of OSA among drivers is close to a 3rd of the population. A cause for greater concern, however, is the reality that 80-90% of drivers with OSA have not been diagnosed, coincidentally the same percentage of the general population that goes undiagnosed. Enter your information below to access the full video featuring Dr. Durmer’s explanation of FMCSA Guidelines for Sleep Apnea.

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Click play on the video below to see the introduction to the presentation.

SDB is a category of respiratory conditions that come on during sleep. The body’s upper airway muscles relax during sleep. When these muscles relax and vibrate, snoring is produced. When these muscles relax to the point of complete collapse, however, the airway is cutoff and breathing is temporarily suspended.  This condition, known as Sleep Apnea, and other conditions caused by Sleep Disorders interrupt the restorative processes of sleep, often resulting in chronic health issues. In this ten minute segment, Dr. Durmer details various Sleep Disorders and the dangers associated with each, specifically with individuals in the transportation industry.

Click below to listen to Dr. Durmer’s discussion of the dangers of Sleep Disorders.

Click the links below to listen to Dr. Durmer’s other BlogTalkRadio segments.

Dr. Durmer Discussing the Realities of Shift Work Disorder on BlogTalkRadio
Dr. Durmer Discussing Sleep and Its Role for Health and Wellness on BlogTalkRadio
Dr. Durmer Discussing When to Seek the Help of a Sleep Specialist on BlogTalkRadio

Ms. Cyr brought a unique perspective from one who works with truck drivers on a daily basis to ensure that treatment is comfortable and easily adapted to individual needs. According to Ms. Cyr, Care Managers are “essentially coaches.” Mr. Keller provided the perspective from the driver’s side of OSA [Obstructive Sleep Apnea] treatment.  Mr. Keller says that he values his partnership with FusionHealth^® because “they are right here with you everyday” and often call “just to see how things are and if [I need] anything.”

Click here to listen to Ms. Cyr and Mr. Keller’s segment on the Extreme Truckers Show.

To access the full Extreme Truckers Show, click here.

Glenn and his Care Team — wife, Tomlyn and FusionHealth® Care Manager

Glenn Keller, Independent Contractor with Road Runner Transportation and CNN Fit Nation participant, shares his heartfelt advice for drivers.

He tells how getting back on his Sleep Apnea treatment kept him in compliance and driving safely. Plus, Glenn’s wife, Tomlyn, tells how she can now get a good night sleep thanks to Glenn’s treatment.

Click play on the video below to see Glenn story. When you do, you’ll see how drivers and fleets can benefit from Sleep Apnea treatment. Glenn share the steps needed to return to better health, sleep more soundly and be safer on the road so he could return home to his family.

A growing body of evidence has demonstrated that sleep is just as important as diet and exercise is to maintaining a healthy mind and body. Without good quantity or quality of sleep, you can’t get the full benefit of all the hours put in at the gym or all the nutritious food you eat.

The benefits of getting consistent, quality sleep are indisputable:

• Wake up refreshed
• Have more energy
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Improve your work performance
• Prevent chronic illness
• Reduce your risk for accidents

“Sleep disorders affect nearly 44 million Americans, with an additional 35 million reporting occasional problems. It is a health problem of epidemic proportions, which has only recently been recognized. Sleep disorders lead to fragmented sleep and poor sleep quality that can increase people’s risk for High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke,” says Jeffrey S. Durmer, MD, PhD, Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and Chief Medical Officer of FusionHealth®

The most common signs of poor sleep quality are waking up unrefreshed, experiencing morning headaches, and feeling daytime sleepiness. Loud snoring, waking up gasping for air and periods of no breathing (apnea) are the most common signs of Sleep Apnea, a common and treatable sleep disorder.

It’s time to wake up to the importance of sleep. It is just as important as diet and exercise are to your health. By putting sleep on par with diet and exercise you set yourself up for success and greater health and well-being.

With the summer coming to an end, we begin to prepare our children for the start of a new school year. In general, we tend to focus our attention on new clothes, shoes and getting required supplies. However, we should also take a closer look at how well our child sleeps at night.

Many studies demonstrate a link between poor sleep quality and quantity and decreased academic performance. Depending on the age of your child, most school age children will need anywhere from 9-13 hours of sleep. With the lax schedule that summer may bring, many children have been going to bed late and waking up during the late morning hours…or even early afternoons! By the end of August it can be hard for many children to start waking early for school. Therefore, it is recommended that a consistent sleep schedule is maintained as much as possible throughout the year, including summertime.

But what can you do now if your child has been sleeping all sorts of odd hours this summer and you are thinking, “How am I going to wake up little Johnny when school starts?” Here are some tips that can help you with getting your child ready for school.

1. About one month prior to the start of school, start to change your child’s sleep schedule. A gradual change of the sleep schedule is most effective. For example, if your child has been going to sleep at midnight, it would be hard for him/her to suddenly get to sleep at 10 PM the night before the first day of school. Therefore, in this particular case, one month before the start of school, have your child start going to bed at 11:30PM and wake the same time every morning (usually the time he/she would need to get up for school). During the day, your child should not nap. Continue this schedule for about 3 days and then set the bedtime another ½ hour earlier (e.g., 11PM). Keep wake times the same and avoid naps during this whole process. Eventually, your child will start to sleep earlier and wake up refreshed.

2. Shut off all electronic devices 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to the desired bedtime. This includes TV, loud/fast music, computers, iPADs, phones, video games, etc. Do not expose your child to bright light or loud noises during this time as it inhibits the brain to naturally allow sleep.

Note: Occasionally, your child may not easily fall asleep despite the above measures. He or she may need a sleep aid temporarily to help him/her get to sleep earlier. Discuss this with your pediatrician or a board certified sleep professional.

3. Observe your child while he/she is sleeping. Parental observation is crucial. Does he/she snore? Is he/she restless? Is he/she still sleepy despite what you think is an adequate amount of sleep? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then your child may have an underlying sleep disorder and it is recommended to bring these concerns to your pediatrician or a board certified sleep professional. It has been reported that children who snore or who have restless legs syndrome are more likely to have the characteristics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Therefore, improving a child’s sleep may improve many problems that he/she may face during the regular school day. Also, it is unusual for a child above age 5 to nap. This may signify the quantity and/or quality of sleep is poor and should be assessed.

4. Avoid heavy meals and exercise after 8 PM.

5. Sleep in a cool, dark and quiet room.

6. During the school year, keep a consistent sleep schedule. There should not be more than 1.5 hours difference between the weekday and weekend bedtimes and wake times.

Some tips to achieve this are:

1. Eat a balanced diet. Meals should contain a healthy serving of vegetables, grains, protein, fruit and dairy. The amount of each food group varies depending on the person’s activity level and medical conditions. Guidelines on your child’s diet can be discussed with his/her pediatrician or a licensed dietitian.

2. Keep healthy foods and snacks at home. Your child cannot snack on a bag of potato chips if you do not buy them. Our children learn from the way we eat, so if we stock healthy foods at home and serve them, then they too may learn to make better choices in their food selections when they become more independent.

3. Limit fast food meals. These meals are generally high in salt and calories. If time is limited in the evenings to cook at home, consider preparing meals either partially or completely in advance. For example, you can cut vegetables the night before and come home and make a quick stir fry, or consider cooking on the weekends and freezing meals to use for the next week.

4. Eat slowly. Eating too fast may result in overeating. It takes the brain about 20 minutes to register that food has entered the stomach and a feeling of satiety emerges. Eating too fast will cause you to eat more before your brain signals that you are full. Therefore, chew your food well and eat slowly.

5. Get active! Make sure your child gets good daily physical exercise.

6. Abstain or limit caffeine and juice consumption. Make sure your child drinks an adequate amount of water daily.

The Healthy Trucking Driver of the Year recipient is the one driver who constantly works to redefine health and wellness in the trucking industry. This person not only finds ways to enhance his/her own health on a daily basis but also inspires others to do the same with an upbeat and positive attitude. Candidates for the Healthy Trucking Driver of the Year Award must meet the following criteria:

• A current CDL card-holder
• A skilled and experienced commercial driver
• A physically active individual who continuously seeks to enhance his/her health
• Genuinely interested in promoting healthy habits to others
• In good standing with his/her current employer
• In good standing with Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) score
• Possess a positive and an outstanding attitude

Aside from been recognized at the annual Summit, the Healthy Trucking Driver of the Year winner also receives a prize package valued at over $3000. The package includes:

• A $2,500 International Advantage Card good for parts and services at any International dealer location
• International apparel including a hat, t-shirt, and jacket
• 90-Day Big Road Wellness guidebook complete with blood pressure cuff
• Free membership to International Advantage and a one-year individual membership to HTAA
• The option to be a regular contributor for Life on the Road, a premier trucking news blog
• The opportunity to share his/her story on Extreme Truckers Online Radio Show
• An award and window cling with official designation as Healthy Trucking Driver of the Year

If you think you or someone you know deserves to be the Healthy Trucking Driver of the Year, be sure to visit the Healthy Trucking Awards page to learn more and click here to pre-register for the 2013 Awards Packet.

In an industry where safety depends on its workers, these findings reveal a serious issue.
Here is how employees in the transportation industry responded to the poll.

Train Operators
According to the poll, train operators experience the greatest issues concerning sleep and the impact it has on their lives and job performance.
• 44% state that their weekday routines do not allow for adequate sleep.
• Considering that 14% of train operators were diagnosed with a sleep disorder, it is not surprising that they share the top spot for instances of nightly snoring and waking up “unrefreshed.”
• 26% of train operators report sleepiness impacting their job performance at least once a week.
• 18% attribute a “near miss” accident at work to sleepiness.

Truck Drivers
Along with train operators, truck drivers also find sleepiness impacts their work performance.
•    Truck drivers rank with the train operators for nightly snoring.
•    11% have sleep disorders.
•    15% of truck drivers said that sleepiness impacted their job performance at least once a week.
•    14% documented “near miss” accidents while at work.

Pilots
Pilots, like train operators, agree that their workday routines do not allow for proper sleep. Because of this, they rank at the top with train operators for waking up feeling “unrefreshed.” This sleepiness directly affects their job performance.
• 5% suffer from a diagnosed sleep disorder.
• 23% report sleepiness impacting job performance at least once a week.
• Unlike those occupations with “near misses,” 20% associate sleepiness with serious errors committed at work.

Public Transportation Specialists
While public transportation specialists have shorter workdays than their peers in the study, results still show sleepiness affects job performance.
• 18% report getting less sleep than they need during the work week.
• 5% report having sleeping disorders.
• 10% believe sleep impacts their job performance.
• 12% associate a “near miss” at work with their sleepiness.

While sleepiness is common for all workers, sleep-related issues and their association with job performance are higher among those in the Transportation Industry.

With so many lives at stake, this report suggests that intervention is required to ensure transportation safety. To view the poll’s full findings, click here.
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Did you know that good sleep is actually preventive medicine? Many diseases start with sleep disorders and progress to serious medical conditions.

By taking action today, you will protect your future health, enjoy a longer life, become more productive, and feel better every day.

The Sleep4Safety Program, powered by FusionHealth®, ensures effective treatment for DOT- and non DOT-regulated employees in the transportation industries.
FusionHealth® is the national leader in Transportation Sleep Medicine, providing solutions for sleep apnea and the 80+ sleep disorders in the trucking, aviation, rail and public transportation industries.

If you feel drowsy while driving, click in the link in the sidebar to take a free sleep quiz, enter your contact information to receive a free guide on how to get a restful night’s sleep and contact the FusionHealth® Care Team™ for more information.