OSA and the military

[VikingGnome]

Just curious. Are individuals in the military tested for OSA? (Those that snore and have other symptoms). With the complexity of military operations, a soldier/sailor/airman/marine with EDS could cause great damage to his/her company.

[deerslayer]

Things have changed a bunch since i was discharged. My OSA was diagnosed by sleep study at VA Hospital . i think there is so much more awareness now for preventative medicine with ways to monitor health status through https://www.myhealth.va.gov/index.html

[BlackSpinner]

We have a member who was diagnosed while serving. He went into the field too. He just retired to Florida.

[digitalepiphany]

I was diagnosed while serving, back in 2001.

[akcpapguy]

Yes they do get tested. I ran the sleep lab at Walter Reed for 3 years and we tested many active duty service members. Before I left I was part of the planning commitee for the new sleep lab at Bethesda, it was going to be 14 beds, we only had 8 at WR. There is a lot of sleep research being done in the military that is not widely published, we had 2 sleep doctors at WR who did nothing but research.

[BlackSpinner]

There is a lot of sleep research being done in the military that is not widely published, we had 2 sleep doctors at WR who did nothing but research.

Yes a lot of the historical documents on sleep deprivation dating back almost 100 years was done by the military to see the effects on the quality of work because the military has to be effective 24/7 somehow. The other work was done on quality control for shift workers but most of the really in depth studies were military.

[RandyJ]

If one is in the military and deployed to a place like Afghanistan, sleeping in a tent, would he have access to reliable electricity for his cpap or would he be discharged? I would think it would be hell on filters also if one were in the desert with all that sand...

[nanwilson]

If one is in the military and deployed to a place like Afghanistan, sleeping in a tent, would he have access to reliable electricity for his cpap or would he be discharged? I would think it would be hell on filters also if one were in the desert with all that sand...

Here in Canada, you are given a battery set up with your cpap in case you have to go into the field. The military here send those members that "anatomically look" like they may have sleep apnea for testing and are given the set up if they tested positive. Needless to say my air force son has both a PR system one and battery set up .