Sleep Deprivation Makes Driving DangerousPosting Date: 09/19/2005 For those who would like more information on non-drug approaches to overcoming insomnia, we offer our Guide to Getting a Good Night?s Sleep. Please send $2 in check or money order with a long (no. 10) stamped (60 cents), self-addressed envelope: Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. I-70, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. Sleeping pills are not the only medications that could interfere with alertness, judgment or reaction time. Anti-anxiety medications such as diazepam or alprazolam can affect vigilance. So can many allergy medicines. Over-the-counter antihistamines that contain diphenhydramine (like Benadryl) are especially sedating. Research has shown that people who took this allergy medicine were just as impaired as if they had been drinking alcohol (Annals of Internal Medicine, March 2000). Most people, including medical residents, are responsible and would not deliberately put others at risk. But driving while impaired, whether because of lack of sleep, medications or alcohol, is risky business. * * * Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist. Teresa Graedon holds a doctorate in medical anthropology and is a nutrition expert. Their syndicated radio show can be heard on public radio. In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.org. 2005 King Features Syndicate, Inc. Related Stories |
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