THIS WEEK IN SLEEP NEWS, Oct 30 - Nov 6, Drowsy Driving Edition

 DROWSY DRIVING AWARENESS WEEK  || November 1-7, 2015

Drive Alert, Arrive Alive

This week is Drowsy Driving Awareness Week. All news events included in this special curation will be focused on drowsy driving. To learn more about the hazards and costs of drowsy driving and what you can do to prevent it, please visit the National Sleep Foundation website devoted to this national epidemic. Also, please read this article, "Drowsy Driving: Why It’s Not Worth the Risk," at Sleep.org. 

SHC will return to its normal news curation next week.

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 DROWSY DRIVING NEWS  
54 News Stories About Falling Asleep Behind the Wheel In Just One Week

OCT 30 || ASBURY PARK PRESS
APP, Meridian want to help you sleep

OCT 30 || AZ CENTRAL

Sleeping semi driver gets 1 year in fatal Phoenix crash

OCT 30 || ENERGY FM
Suspended sentence for father who fell asleep at the wheel

OCT 30 || THE HANS INDIA
Indian who drove in sleep awarded community service in New Zealand

OCT 30 || MICHIGAN LIVE
Trucker in I-94 crash may have fallen asleep at the wheel, police say

OCT 30 || MY TWIN TIERS
Motorist Warned About Drowsy Driving After Time Change

OCT 30 || SKIFBULL CHANNEL
10 Terrifying Realities Of Sleep Deprivation (video)

OCT 30 || TRIB LIVE
Crash in White Township injures 3

OCT 30 || WWMT
UPDATED: WB I-94 re-opens following rollover crash 

OCT 31 || CROSSROADS COLLEGE PREP
Get enough sleep! (video)

OCT 31 || MONTREAL GAZETTE
Cyclist dies in accident near Quebec City 

OCT 31 || SALON

Big trucks, big bucks: Heavy-spending trucking industry pushes Congress to relax safety rules: Big rig lobbyists have GOP lawmakers looking to loosen restrictions on drivers, to the horror of safety advocates 

NOV 1 || CBC NEWS CANADA
IN DEPTH || End of daylight saving time 2015: 6 eye-opening facts... One-hour time change linked to effects on heart attack, traffic fatality rates

NOV 1 || MY SAN ANTONIO
Police say driver jumps curb, hits, kills pedestrian

NOV 1 || THE TROY RECORD
DMV officials warn of fatigued driving

NOV 1 || WFLA
Two teens dead, driver injured when she fell asleep at the wheel on CA road

NOV 2 || BANGOR DAILY NEWS
Police: Driver of overturned tractor trailer fell asleep at the wheel

NOV 2 || CBS NEWS EDMONTON
Bravery medal for girl, 5, who saved mom, brother in car wreck: Lexi Shymanski escaped car wreck, climbed steep embankment to flag down passing vehicle

NOV 2 || KSBW
Drowsy driving causes roadway danger

NOV 2 || KTVQ
Blind Laurel athlete defies odds, trains for ski competition--Officials believe Mooney fell asleep at the wheel when he crashed into another car 11 years ago

NOV 2 || NEWSPLEX
Traffic Safety Study Looks at Drowsy Driving

NOV 2 || SHAPE
What's Worse: Sleep Deprivation or Disrupted Sleep?

NOV 3 || BUZZFEED NEWS
Ben Carson: I’ve Literally Fallen Asleep At The Wheel--Several Times Carson has written of several times he fell asleep at the wheel of a car, including two separate instances that occurred decades apart in which he dodged an 18-wheeler

NOV 3 || ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT ONLINE
Soap Star Nathaniel Marston May Have Fallen Asleep at the Wheel in Horrific Car Crash

NOV 3 || HJ NEWS
Preston man faces trial in fatal drowsy driving case

NOV 3 || HOLLAND SENTINEL
Milwaukee man falls asleep behind wheel, crashes into pole in Wright Township

NOV 3 || THE IRISH TIMES
Criticism of lenient penalties on bus and truck operators by RSA: Driver fatigue thought to be deciding factor in 20% of deaths – about 38 fatalities in 2014

NOV 3 || MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL
Vehicle fire closes I-43 for 3 hours after sleeping woman hits disabled semi

NOV 3 || MY NORTHWEST.com
Study: 37 percent of us have fallen asleep at the wheel

NOV 3 || NEWS 12 WRDW ATLANTA
Truck driver accused of hitting and killing man admits to falling asleep behind the wheel

NOV 3 || NORTHWEST TERRITORY NEWS
Driver was chasing snakes before Arnhem Highway crash with truck: A DRIVER who fell asleep at the wheel of his ute, ran a red light and was T-boned by a road train carrying 100,000 litres of fuel had been out “chasing snakes” for photographs in a national park

NOV 4 || ABC NEWS
Wake-Up Call: Alarming Number of Motorists Confess to Drowsy Driving

NOV 4 || AUTOCONNECTED CAR NEWS

NHTSA adds auto-braking to ratings & wakes up to drowsy driving

NOV 4 || GOLDENDALE SENTINEL

Drowsy driving and drunk driving are the same thing

NOV 4 || INQUISITR
Adrian Campos Death: Colombian Soap Star's Husband May Have Fallen Asleep At The Wheel

NOV 4 || KIRKLAND REPORTER
King County Councilmember, Sheriff remind drivers about the dangers of drowsy driving

NOV 4 || NEWSRADIO KONP 
Drowsy Driving Causing Problems On WA Roads

NOV 4 || US NEWS & WORLD REPORT
When Allergy or Cold Medication Makes You Drowsy: How to Stay Alert

NOV 4 || WATERTOWN DAILY NEWS
Potsdam man crashes car after falling asleep, troopers say (video)

NOV 4 || WCHS-TV 8
Slow Lane Reopens On I-64 WB Near Cross Lanes After Wreck, Broken Down Tractor-Trailer--The driver of the accident told police he fell asleep at the wheel. Dispatchers said he suffered a head injury

NOV 4 || WCPO CINCINNATI
Two injured in three-car crash in Delhi

NOV 5 || GLENN SANDLIN
Drowsy Driving Project 2 (video)

NOV 5 || KARE 11
Crash, fuel spill closes Hwy 12 -- Dump truck driver asleep at the wheel?

NOV 5 || KPHO
Deputies: Driver asleep at the wheel hospitalizes 3

NOV 5 || THE NOW DENVER
The Drowsy Driving Epidemic (video)

NOV 5 || VALLEY NEWS LIVE
Healthier Me: Treating Sleep Apnea to Keep Drivers Safe

NOV 5 || WFPL
Heavy-Spending Trucking Industry Pushes Congress to Relax Safety Rules

NOV 5 || WSAW
Drowsiness likely a factor in head-on Mosinee crash

NOV 5 || WSBTV

Woman falls asleep at wheel, car lands on top of others in DeKalb

NOV 6 || 12 KFVS
Police cite driver who fell asleep at the wheel

NOV 6 || COLORADOAN NEWS
Community softens blow for teen paralyzed in hit-and-run

NOV 6 || HUFFINGTON POST PARENTS
Tired Eyes

NOV 6 || KBND
Drowsy driving blamed for Tumalo crash

NOV 6 || PATTAYA ONE
Pick-up driver killed in crash with 18-wheel truck in East Pattaya

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Today's #Sleeptember FACT --- Cancer and its treatments can cause enduring sleep problems

#SLEEPTEMBER

If you or a loved one has cancer, you probably already know this first hand: Cancer can lead to all sorts of problems with sleep.

The cancer itself can wreak havoc on the body in such a way that it either leads to extreme daytime somnolence and fatigue, nightmare syndrome or the curse of insomnia. Anxiety about cancer can lead to poor sleep. The pain that cancer causes can also make sleeping nearly impossible due to comfort issues. Add to the mix a variety of cancer treatments (and their delivery systems) as additional challenges to achieving quality sleep while fighting to overcome cancer. Good sleep helps the body heal, but it's just so hard to get good sleep as a cancer patient.

According to the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute,

Sleep disorders are more common in people with cancer... as many as half of patients with cancer have problems sleeping.

Their website offers a wealth information about the relationship between sleep and cancer at their website. They discuss the impact of hospital stays, tumors, stress, drugs and other conditions on both cancer and sleep quality. They also discuss sleep health assessments and solutions for sleep problems that could offer many cancer patients relief and even aid in their healing.

• Learn more about identifying and treating sleep disorders in cancer patients at the National Cancer Institute
• Read about poor sleep and its potential to increase your cancer risk from the National Sleep Foundation
• Discover how poor sleep can impact a cancer patient's recovery rate from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Sleep Health Awareness Events for March

MAR 2 - 8 || National Sleep Awareness Week
You may have already noticed (especially in Twitter!) an increase in posts about sleep health online, and that's due to this annual awareness event sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation. They have conducted a great many polls on sleep health in America that are worth checking out as they allow people to compare and contrast their sleep habits and problems with their peers in very specific ways. Access these eye-opening polls here. The week concludes on Sunday March 8 with the start of Daylight Saving Time at 2am, in which we all lose a precious our of sleep by setting our clocks forward by one hour. Why no prepare now and sleep a little extra before Sunday rolls in?

MAR 9 || Insomnia Awareness Day
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine sponsors its second annual Insomnia Awareness Day. In light of the upcoming switch to Daylight Saving Time, the AASM points out that "as many as 30 to 35 percent of adults suffer from temporary insomnia, which can be caused by a sudden change in schedule, such as the shift to daylight saving time." Fortunately, for some, insomnia is only temporary until the body can reset its own clock. However, chronic insomnia, which impacts up to 10 percent of all adults, never seems to go away and either presents as difficulty in falling asleep or in staying asleep despite opportunities to do so. Learn more about the deadly consequences of untreated insomnia here.

MAR 13 || World Sleep Day
Not long after a week of sleep health awareness, the World Association of Sleep Medicine is observing World Sleep Day with options for learning the history of sleep health as well as more information about specific kinds of sleep health issues through a series of videos provided by some of the world's finest sleep physicians. The WASM offers numerous resources for people suffering from a variety of sleep health problems. You can also visit their website and browse their global map to identify sleep awareness events taking place in your corner of the world.

MAR 16 - 23 || Brain Awareness Week
Remember, sleep and the brain are as important to human health as blood and the heart. Naturally, SHC supports this annual global campaign promoted by the Dana Alliance to help "increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research." They sponsor activities which include open houses at local neuroscience labs; helmet pledges to help raise funds for research into traumatic brain injury; brain exhibitions and lectures; social media campaigns; displays at public places like libraries, community centers and classrooms, even a Brain Bee! Learn more here.