NTSB recommends pilot screening for Sleep Apnea

[Beaver79]

I have read all about this issue since the NTSB report, but what is the time line for all of this? About the surgery, one article indicated that the FAA really like that option because the other options aren't "sure things." Now it sounds like the surgery isn't a "sure thing" either.

The FAA basically wants to KNOW DEFINITIVELY whether your attention or lack thereof affects your flying if you have apnea. There truly is no "cure" at this point in medical time, but some things have shown great promise. CPAP has been the most effective, and from what I'm told the FAA is okay with this solution. The problem with CPAP is compliance - if you don't use it, it doesn't work. Well, with the computer card that comes with the CPAP I would guess the FAA can monitor compliance somehow. The dental device (the TAP - Thorton Adjustable Positioner) has very very good results for most people. It simply positions the jaw forward sort of like what would happen if you do CPR on someone. Again, this has had very very good results. It is excellent at controlling sleep disordered breathing (i.e. snoring) and even mild to moderate sleep apnea. Again, compliance is the challenge. As for everything else, it is a "depends" type response. Statisically, the UP3 is about 50% effective. Some people see great results and are cured (at least at the present moment). Others have it and still need CPAP. The UP3 is extremely painful from what I'm told - it is NOT a minor surgery. The surgeon will basically gut your throat. My guess is that the success of the surgery depends on your personal anatomy (large or small palate etc.). Other things out there include tongue/palate ablation (not sure of the spelling). This is where they shrink tissue with Radio Frequency. It has shown great promise, but it's early still. Also, the pillar implant is another option. Again, from various conversations with medical persons, the pillar implant probably will cure snoring but not necessarily apnea.

I recommend arming yourself with knowledge. I was "diagnosed" with obstructive sleep apnea", but I don't have it in the end. Other things can cause the OSA type symptoms and be cured - polyps, deviated septums, damaged nasal turbinates etc etc. Good luck!

 

[Erlanger]

I bet alot of this from not eating properly. Give me a coke and some snacks and my blood sugar rockets through the roof and then I'm tired and sleepy. We know most of us pilots eat like crap.

I'm wondering if the cabin pressure makes you sleepy too along with those reduced rest trips. WTF do they expect is going to happen with schedules like that?

 

[PA44Jockey]

The FAA basically wants to KNOW DEFINITIVELY whether your attention or lack thereof affects your flying if you have apnea. There truly is no "cure" at this point in medical time, but some things have shown great promise. CPAP has been the most effective, and from what I'm told the FAA is okay with this solution. The problem with CPAP is compliance - if you don't use it, it doesn't work. Well, with the computer card that comes with the CPAP I would guess the FAA can monitor compliance somehow. The dental device (the TAP - Thorton Adjustable Positioner) has very very good results for most people. It simply positions the jaw forward sort of like what would happen if you do CPR on someone. Again, this has had very very good results. It is excellent at controlling sleep disordered breathing (i.e. snoring) and even mild to moderate sleep apnea. Again, compliance is the challenge. As for everything else, it is a "depends" type response. Statisically, the UP3 is about 50% effective. Some people see great results and are cured (at least at the present moment). Others have it and still need CPAP. The UP3 is extremely painful from what I'm told - it is NOT a minor surgery. The surgeon will basically gut your throat. My guess is that the success of the surgery depends on your personal anatomy (large or small palate etc.). Other things out there include tongue/palate ablation (not sure of the spelling). This is where they shrink tissue with Radio Frequency. It has shown great promise, but it's early still. Also, the pillar implant is another option. Again, from various conversations with medical persons, the pillar implant probably will cure snoring but not necessarily apnea.

I recommend arming yourself with knowledge. I was "diagnosed" with obstructive sleep apnea", but I don't have it in the end. Other things can cause the OSA type symptoms and be cured - polyps, deviated septums, damaged nasal turbinates etc etc. Good luck!

Great post! The docs didn't think I was a good candidate for the UP3 because I was nearly born with a cleft pallet. I have a bifid uvula and they feared that if they removed it and part of the pallet, that I would not be able to keep food from going up into my nose. Didn't sound very pleasing so I definitely decided against it.

During my surgery I had my tonsils removed, 3 bone spurs removed from my left nostril and my septum straightened. My tonsils where so big they were considered kissing tonsils(they were touching each other.) Add to that a bifid uvula and there is no room back there for anything else. A bifid uvula is basically a uvula split into two. Let me tell you, the three weeks following that surgery were the most painful 3 weeks ever. I have had 5 surgeries before and that one hurt the most. Nose was clotted for two weeks following the surgery so I couldn't breathe through it. Swallowed a bunch of blood during the surgery. The Doc told my mother that I swallowed a bunch of blood, but didn't tell her what that meant. Your body cannot digest blood and there is only one way for it to come out of your stomach and that is through your mouth. Imagine puking your guts out 12 hours after your surgery on raw throat that just had tonsils cut out of it, and not being able to breathe through your nose. I literally thought I was dying. I filled a plastic puke bag about half way up that they sent me home with. Probably a little less than a milk jugg full of nothing but blood. Sorry for the mental picture.

I think it was Johns Hopkins put out the results of a study today saying that people with mild or greater sleep apnea have a 40% greater chance of dying at an early age than that of someone with less than mild OSA or no OSA at all. Serious stuff!