Texas Personal Injury Lawyers – Jim Adler & Associates – Blog

By now, we all know it’s not healthy to be overweight. Medical reports rail against excess body fat, citing statistics that show even a few extra pounds can cause serious illnesses, from diabetes to heart ailments. Americans trying to stay healthy fight battles with their bathroom scales every day all over the United States.
But what about other people’s fat? Can it kill us too? Yes, according to sleep scientists at Harvard University. Their studies of the link between being overweight and sleep apnea have the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration considering new rules to require screening of overweight truck drivers. Harvard scientists estimate that 28 percent of commercial truck drivers on U.S. highways suffer from mild or severe sleep apnea. The disorder shuts off airways, causing them to wake up dozens, even hundreds of times every night, leaving them generally fatigued and often, grievously sleep deprived. People with sleep apnea have a tendency to nod off during normal activities. A few seconds asleep at the wheel of an 80,000 pound truck rolling down the highway could easily be fatal to nearby drivers.
While the federal government is looking seriously at new rules to curb sleep apnea in overweight truckers, it has no deadline for implementing them. Supporters say the rules could help prevent the truck accidents that kill more than 5,200 people a year and injure another 100,000. Critics say the rules could idle up to 40 percent of the truckers on American roads. Meanwhile, successful treatments for sleep apnea include a device that supplies oxygen during the night and keeps airways open, leaving truckers with sleep apnea rested and ready to go.