Driving While Tired: Is Sleep Apnea Putting You In Danger On The Road?

You’ve just gotten home from a long day on the road. You plop into bed and fall asleep, when your wife immediately wakes you up. She’s yelling at you for snoring too loudly.

Or maybe, you’re driving and feel like you’re going to fall asleep at the wheel, even though you got plenty of sleep the night before.

Both of these scenarios could point to a serious sleep disorder called sleep apnea. It can increase your risk of obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack, or stroke, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The condition can also cause you to feel so fatigued that you fall asleep while driving—something no driver wants to do.

Fortunately, sleep apnea is also very easy to diagnose and treat. And as long as you take care of yourself, sleep apnea doesn’t need to stop you from hitting the road.

Sources:

US National Library of Medicine (2015)

National Sleep Foundation (2016) 

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2012)

American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2014)

To avoid driving while tired, learn more about sleep apnea.