Ellen wants to become a commercial airline pilot, but she suffers from a sleep disorder. Describe the symptoms of the following types of sleep disorders that Ellen may have: insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. Explain how each sleep disorder would affect her ability to be a pilot and why it would or would not prevent her from becoming one.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

(1) Insomnia is defined as difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or waking frequently during the night. A diagnosis of insomnia means that a person must have difficulty with sleep every night for a period of three weeks or more. This would affect Ellen's being a pilot because of the sleep deprivation associated with insomnia. It would affect Ellen in multiple ways as a pilot: memory problems, decreased reaction time, fatigue, impaired judgement, irritability, attentional lapses, and a tendency to fall into microsleeps. These can all affect a pilot and their ability to perform, especially in an emergency situation, but there are effective treatments for insomnia. (2) Sleep apnea is associated with breathing problems that occur when someone is asleep. The person's sleep pattern is disrupted, and the person wakes up feeling fatigued. If Ellen is suffering from sleep apnea, it can result in extreme daytime sleepiness and general fatigue. These are also side-effects that can affect a pilot's ability to function in a crisis situation. This can be treated with a CPAP device. (3) Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder in which a person has unexpected sleep attacks during the day that last from 3 to 15 minutes. The episode is similar to fainting, except the person falls directly into REM sleep, so they also experience muscle paralysis. If Ellen is suffering from narcolepsy, she would not be able to be a pilot, because there is no cure, although the frequency of the attacks can be reduced or controlled through various techniques.