Sleep expert gives tips for combating fatigue
Dr. Mark Rosekind, former head of the Fatigue Countermeasures Program at the NASA Ames Research Center and one of the
founders of Alertness Solutions, said sleep loss is one of the top causes of accidents in the nation and that most
people are not even aware of how tired they are.
"We are just bad at knowing how alert we are," Rosekind said, citing a study charting people's sleep behavior over a
number of hours. According to the study, 68 percent of the people responded that they were awake at times when they
were actually asleep.
To illustrate this point, he showed a video of a person set up at a station monitoring simulated medical patients'
vital signs at night. After a time, the person on camera became visibly tired and began nodding off. Rosekind said
that one person in this study nodded off and slept right through an incident in which alarms went off warning of the
"patient's" failing vital signs.
Rosekind pointed to societal pressures as a cause for sleep loss. He said that we live in an increasingly 24/7 world
with global interactions and a need for round the clock services. He said that sleep is not a choice, however.
"The amount of sleep you need is genetically determined, Rosekind said, and showed research indicating that the
average person needs 8 hours and 14 minutes of sleep per night. "In our society if you sleep too much you are thought
of as lazy, stupid and dumb."
Rosekind said that sleep loss negatively impacts people in a variety of ways including memory, mood and decision
making capacity. He said that memory functions are down by about 20 percent while decision making capacity can suffer
as much as 50 percent.
Additionally, microsleep - a several second long doze in which the eyes may remain open - is up by 100 percent for
sleep deprived people.
Combating fatigue
"There is no magic bullet or one size fits all solution," said Rosekind while suggesting techniques to combat
fatigue. "There are two things that work."
He discussed a study conducted at NASA where pilots were given planned, controlled 40-minute naps. The average pilot
slept for 26 minutes, and performance improved 34 percent while alertness was up 54 percent.
To make napping effective, it must be planned correctly. A short nap should last no longer than 45 minutes to prevent
the body from falling into deep sleep. Awakening from deep sleep may cause grogginess and disorientation ? known as
"sleep inertia."
The second method Rosekind endorsed for increasing alertness was caffeine. He said caffeine use must be strategically
planned out to work properly.
For best effect it is important to plan the timing and use it before tiring as it takes 15 - 20 minutes to take
effect. It is also important to avoid using it close to sleep times, since the effects linger for three to four hours.
The ideal dosage to improve mental awareness is 100 - 200 mg. To improve physiologically, the optimum dosage is about
400 mg.
The sleep bank
Rosekind said he had good news and bad news regarding sleep loss. "The bad news is that when you lose sleep, it
doesn't just disappear, you actually build a sleep debt," he said. "It's like a bank account, if you get an hour and a
half less sleep than you need over a work-week, then you're seven and a half hours in the red."
Rosekind said that losing an hour and a half each night is like not sleeping for one whole night by the end of the
week, and the lack of sleep can lead to safety problems such as impaired driving.
"The good news is that you don't have to pay sleep loss back hour for hour," Rosekind said. "You recover from sleep
debt by sleeping deeper." He said two nights of about 8 hours uninterrupted sleep will zero out the debt.
Another piece of bad news he shared is that sleep cannot be built up beforehand, and it is impossible to sleep more
now to pay for sleep loss later.
To drive the point home, Rosekind showed a chart comparing the effects of sleep debt with the effects of alcohol. Two
hours of sleep loss has similar effects on the body as between 12 and 24 ounces of alcohol while 8 hours of sleep loss
is similar to having 10 - 11 12 oz. beers.
According to Rosekind, those suffering sleep apnea or insomnia are at a six times higher risk for car accidents as
well as at higher risk for health problems associated with lack of sleep. He emphasized that those suffering from
sleep depravation, insomnia and sleep apnea should seek medical treatment.
Rosekind said those suffering apnea fall asleep quicker than the average person. While it usually takes 12 - 14
minutes for a person to fall asleep, it takes those with apnea about 3 minutes. College students tend to be fatigued
as well, falling asleep in about 8 minutes.
founders of Alertness Solutions, said sleep loss is one of the top causes of accidents in the nation and that most
people are not even aware of how tired they are.
"We are just bad at knowing how alert we are," Rosekind said, citing a study charting people's sleep behavior over a
number of hours. According to the study, 68 percent of the people responded that they were awake at times when they
were actually asleep.
To illustrate this point, he showed a video of a person set up at a station monitoring simulated medical patients'
vital signs at night. After a time, the person on camera became visibly tired and began nodding off. Rosekind said
that one person in this study nodded off and slept right through an incident in which alarms went off warning of the
"patient's" failing vital signs.
Rosekind pointed to societal pressures as a cause for sleep loss. He said that we live in an increasingly 24/7 world
with global interactions and a need for round the clock services. He said that sleep is not a choice, however.
"The amount of sleep you need is genetically determined, Rosekind said, and showed research indicating that the
average person needs 8 hours and 14 minutes of sleep per night. "In our society if you sleep too much you are thought
of as lazy, stupid and dumb."
Rosekind said that sleep loss negatively impacts people in a variety of ways including memory, mood and decision
making capacity. He said that memory functions are down by about 20 percent while decision making capacity can suffer
as much as 50 percent.
Additionally, microsleep - a several second long doze in which the eyes may remain open - is up by 100 percent for
sleep deprived people.
Combating fatigue
"There is no magic bullet or one size fits all solution," said Rosekind while suggesting techniques to combat
fatigue. "There are two things that work."
He discussed a study conducted at NASA where pilots were given planned, controlled 40-minute naps. The average pilot
slept for 26 minutes, and performance improved 34 percent while alertness was up 54 percent.
To make napping effective, it must be planned correctly. A short nap should last no longer than 45 minutes to prevent
the body from falling into deep sleep. Awakening from deep sleep may cause grogginess and disorientation ? known as
"sleep inertia."
The second method Rosekind endorsed for increasing alertness was caffeine. He said caffeine use must be strategically
planned out to work properly.
For best effect it is important to plan the timing and use it before tiring as it takes 15 - 20 minutes to take
effect. It is also important to avoid using it close to sleep times, since the effects linger for three to four hours.
The ideal dosage to improve mental awareness is 100 - 200 mg. To improve physiologically, the optimum dosage is about
400 mg.
The sleep bank
Rosekind said he had good news and bad news regarding sleep loss. "The bad news is that when you lose sleep, it
doesn't just disappear, you actually build a sleep debt," he said. "It's like a bank account, if you get an hour and a
half less sleep than you need over a work-week, then you're seven and a half hours in the red."
Rosekind said that losing an hour and a half each night is like not sleeping for one whole night by the end of the
week, and the lack of sleep can lead to safety problems such as impaired driving.
"The good news is that you don't have to pay sleep loss back hour for hour," Rosekind said. "You recover from sleep
debt by sleeping deeper." He said two nights of about 8 hours uninterrupted sleep will zero out the debt.
Another piece of bad news he shared is that sleep cannot be built up beforehand, and it is impossible to sleep more
now to pay for sleep loss later.
To drive the point home, Rosekind showed a chart comparing the effects of sleep debt with the effects of alcohol. Two
hours of sleep loss has similar effects on the body as between 12 and 24 ounces of alcohol while 8 hours of sleep loss
is similar to having 10 - 11 12 oz. beers.
According to Rosekind, those suffering sleep apnea or insomnia are at a six times higher risk for car accidents as
well as at higher risk for health problems associated with lack of sleep. He emphasized that those suffering from
sleep depravation, insomnia and sleep apnea should seek medical treatment.
Rosekind said those suffering apnea fall asleep quicker than the average person. While it usually takes 12 - 14
minutes for a person to fall asleep, it takes those with apnea about 3 minutes. College students tend to be fatigued
as well, falling asleep in about 8 minutes.
