Effects of Psychoactive Chemicals on Commercial Driver Health and Performance: Stimulants, Hypnotics, Nutritional, and Other Supplements (2011) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Stimulants and Alertness-Enhancing Compounds
Stimulants and Alertness-Enhancing Compounds
Pages 27-38
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 27... ...
in their attempts to maintain alertness and to sustain or enhance driving performance. Discussion focuses on stimulating and wake-promoting compounds often mentioned in the commercial driving community and devotes special attention to the effects on driving safety.
|
From page 28... ...
as a stimulantlike drug for the treatment of narcolepsy and SWSD, and as an adjunctive treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. Impor28 tantly for our purposes here modafinil, adrafinil, and possibly armodafinil would appear to have some application for commercial drivers in maintaining alertness, even while driving.
|
From page 29... ...
Air Force F-117 fighter jet pilots, three 100-mg doses of modafinil, administered every 5 h, sustained flight performance within 27% of baseline levels during the later part of a 37-h period of continuous wakefulness. Similar beneficial effects were seen on measures of alertness and cognitive performance (Caldwell et al.
|
From page 30... ...
for improving performance and alertness during sleep loss. A later study at Walter Reed indicated that a single 400-mg dose of modafinil was as effective as 600 mg of caffeine or 20 mg of d-amphetamine for sustaining the simple psychomotor and cognitive performance of sleep-deprived volunteers for 12 h post-dose (Wesensten et al.
|
From page 31... ...
Caffeinated chewing gum would appear to offer good application potential for commercial drivers. The observable, subjective effects of caffeine last about 4 h and may include a sense or feeling of experiencing a slightly higher heart rate and elevated body temperature, a noticeable perky mood, increased alertness, and signs of improved cognition (i.e., reaction time and memory)
|
From page 32... ...
The discrepant findings are explained by differences among experiments in the number of variables, including whether or 32 not subjects were tested following a period in which they had abstained from using caffeine just before the test, the tasks used to assess cognitive behavior, the age and gender of the participants, the subjects' longer term history of caffeine use, and whether the test subjects were rested or sleep-deprived. There has been some debate about whether caffeine enhances cognitive performance or simply restores degraded performance following caffeine withdrawal in rested individuals [James 1994, 1995, 1998; for further details consult the full IOM report (IOM-CMNR 2001)
|
From page 33... ...
In the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. military forces have routinely been issuing caffeinated chewing gum (100 mg of caffeine per stick of gum)
|
From page 34... ...
. Caffeine restores cognitive function during prolonged wakefulness and it can enhance certain types of cognitive performance, most notably vigilance and reaction times in rested individuals regardless of whether or not they are regular caffeine users.
|
From page 35... ...
(2001) examined the influence of past smoking history on cognitive performance by comparing 4 mg of acute
|
From page 36... ...
They found that nicotine had no significant impact on MSLT measures or on psychomotor performance. Additionally, nicotine did not effectively improve cognitive performance (as measured on several tests in the Walter Reed cognitive Performance Assessment Battery)
|
From page 37... ...
Nicotine absorption can be substantially impaired by consumption of acidic drinks such as coffee and carbonated beverages (fruit juices and soft drinks) either while using the polacrilex (chewing gum)
|
From page 38... ...
No reports evaluating the cognitive performance effects of taking ED or anti-impotence medications were located. However, unconfirmed news accounts report that several military forces have been doing exploratory research on sildenafil (Viagra®)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.