As you may have heard, there are currently bills in the Senate that are pushing for mandatory sleep apnea testing for railway workers and truck drivers. If you work in these fields, you may be confused as to why you would need to be tested for this condition. Is it any business of your employers whether you live with this condition or not? Here's everything you need to know about this potential ruling.

What Is Sleep Apnea?

The first thing you need to know about this ruling is what sleep apnea is. It's a fairly common condition that affects you when you sleep. As you sleep, your airways become restricted, meaning you stop breathing for a certain amount of time. This can range from a few seconds to a few minutes and can happen repeatedly during the night. There are two reasons why your airways will become restricted: either your airways become physically blocked as your muscles relax, or your brain doesn't send the signal to your body to breathe.

How can you know if you have sleep apnea? The best thing to do will be to visit your doctor and ask for their opinion. It's worth visiting them if you suffer from any of the following symptoms:

• Insomnia
• Repeated waking in the night
• Headaches when you wake up
• Tiredness and irritability
• Falling asleep during the day
• Difficulty in concentrating

These are just a few of the symptoms that could indicate sleep apnea. If your doctor agrees that you could be living with this condition, they'll ask you to undertake a sleep study. This could be done in a lab, or with a home sleep apnea test machine.

How Sleep Apnea Affects Your Work

Ok, so if you do have sleep apnea, how does this affect you if you're a truck driver or railway worker? It's all about keeping you in peak condition when you need to be concentrating at work.

Sleep apnea can seriously affect the quality of sleep you get at night. If you're struggling to sleep, or you keep waking in the night, then you're not going to be on top form when you go to work the next day. If you're in charge of heavy machinery, then the chances are higher that an accident could happen under your watch.

This sounds frightening, and there have been instances in the past where accidents have happened, thanks to operators having sleep apnea. These incidents have been the launching pad for the current bills that are in place. If workers are tested routinely for sleep apnea, they can be treated or it and so future accidents can be greatly reduced.

How You're Tested And Treated For Sleep Apnea

As mentioned earlier, there are two ways that you'll be tested for sleep apnea. Firstly, you could be sent to a sleep lab to be examined. You'll be monitored by experts as you sleep, so they can observe your sleep patterns and give your doctor a good idea of what happens to you as you sleep.

The other method is home sleep testing. There are a lot of home sleep study companies that have created easy to use, non-invasive machines that can help you find the root of the cause of your symptoms. You can use them in your own bed, which makes them a much more attractive option for many people.

Once you have your results, you can then visit your doctor and discuss them with them. They'll be able to suggest several different treatment options, depending on what you'll need. For example, you may need to take medication, wear breathing apparatus when you sleep or possibly have surgery to correct the problem.

It's good to know that sleep apnea can be easily treated by your doctor, so if you find you have it you'll see a marked improvement in the quality of your sleep.

As you can see, there's a lot of good reasons why the Senate is looking to pass this bill on sleep apnea. The quicker the condition is picked up by truck drivers and railway workers, the more accidents and incidents can be avoided. Get yourself tested and you'll see just how much your health improves.

VirtuOx is the leader in home sleep tests and pulse oximetry.