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The National Fatty Registry
Yes, we have one, and apparently I’m on it.
Today I went to see a doctor to clear up his misconceptions about whether or not I am required to seek a sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment to maintain my physical qualification for a commercial drivers license. During the paperwork (which takes more time than the actual physical) he said, “I wonder if I put you on the registry?” He flipped through a notepad and declared me one of the first he had reported to the government for having an above average BMI and/or other risk factors for obstuctive sleep apnea and stated that he would have to update the information.
Yes, the guy is a military physician, but the registry is part of the Department of Transporation. He is required to report his findings because he is qualified to issue driver physical certifications. Big Brother is watching what I eat. Maybe I should too.
Published in General
Yich.
Yep, micromanaging our lives to increase “safety”.
Whoops! FMCSA Accidentally Unveils Sleep Apnea Plans
“According to the accidental release, FMCSA would like to stagger certification for drivers with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35 or greater. Initially they will receive a 60-day certification an must undergo a sleep study. Then they will get a 90-day certification and, if there are no sleep apnea related issues, the driver will receive a one-year certification.
“Doctors will be able to cite a number of sleep apnea triggers to make a driver go through a sleep lab. These include male drivers and post-menopausal female drivers with a BMI of 28 and have been in a crash; Male drivers with a 17- inch neck or female drivers with a 15.5-inch neck; drivers older than 42; drivers with a family history of sleep apnea; and drivers with a small jaw….”
http://www.foleyservices.com/news/whoops-fmcsa-accidentally-unveils-sleep-apnea-plans/
The BMI rears its ugly, inaccurate head once again; someone should put a stake – or is it “steak” – through its heart once and for all. Godspeed, KP!
The cost just to drive a truck is going up. The only reason I was able to dodge the bullet this time is because I asked who was going to pay for the sleep study. The sleep study is just a guideline right now, not law, so the Navy may have had to eat the expense if they made it a requirement of my employment. So, they took the easier solution and decided I’m an inch taller and below the 35% BMI threshhold.
A question for Dave Carter. What do drivers do in places like California when they are required to run a CPAP machine while they sleep but are also required to shut down their electricity generating engines?
My boss is going Elk hunting next month. He uses a CPAP device (no, not for hunting Elk silly). His CPAP has a battery that can last up to 10 hours. I just built him a charging cable so he can plug into his vehicle cigar lighter socket to recharge his CPAP battery.
I thought you all had self-driving trucks already!
This is just the start of it. The National BMI Registry will soon be joined by:
I’m so glad the most intimate and potentially embarrassing issues of Americans’ lives will be handled by faceless bureaucrats with essentially no accountability. Progress!
Admittedly there is a somewhat understandable reason for the registry. Some drivers who failed their physicals were just going to other, less scrupulous doctors and getting the paperwork signed off. A database of negative findings can pervent that from happening. However, I’d still rather it happen a lot than have a government capable of preventing it.
The idea of a registry may have merit.
The idea of the federal government maintaining a database of fatties, not so much.
Does the trucking industry not have a private oversight organization?
“Does the trucking industry not have a private oversight organization?”
Why would they? The physical requirements are all federal DOT. Keeping us safe from dangerous drivers and all that.
I have a CPAP machine. For some reason (I was told Obamacare) before I was allowed to purchase my replacement masks and filters (out of my own pocket not insurance) I had to have my machine (I own it) fitted with a wireless modem so they could download my CPAP readings for examination (by persons unknown). This information contains stuff like when I go to sleep, wake up, how many breaths I take, how many “events” I have, if the mask is leaking, etc. I don’t know where this info goes and who gets to look at it or who keeps it and for how long but I am getting increasingly uncomfortable with what information I am being required to give to others.
There’s a chance Vitamin D can reduce or eliminate sleep apnea in some people. It can take several months after your levels are between 60 – 80 ng/ml, but I’m pretty sure I had mild sleep apnea and now I do not. People respond widely to the same dose of vitamin D, but I think the best place to start is 50IU/pound body weight, per day, on average. Take that for 90 days, and then get tested. Adjust from there.
Does anybody have private oversight of anything anymore? It seems the government is compelled to involve itself into about every part of everybody’s lives.
What brand is this battery powered CPAP? IMWTK!
I can never get one of those batteries to go more than about 4 hours.
KP’s driving down the Road to Serfdom.
Mike H.: sleep apnea’s pretty clearly related to obesity. I’m actually quite impressed by how thorough they are on their analysis.
Of course the purpose of this is that drivers with sleep apnea get poorer quality sleep, and are therefore more likely to have an accident due to being too tired.
Sadly, the advice they’ll give you on how to lose weight will be counter-productive… But that’s the Kafkaesque nature of the totalitarian state.
“Sadly, the advice they’ll give you on how to lose weight will be counter-productive…”
This doctor told me no bread, potatoes, or rice. I grunted while thinking “good luck with that.”
As far as getting enough sleep, the longest I drive for my job is about 15 minutes. If I can’t stay awake for that, then there are bigger problems going on.
Oh, I don’t doubt it, but there are people with sleep apnea who are not overweight, so maybe Vitamin D deficiency is a separate cause and wouldn’t help people who were overweight as much. There is correlation between weight and vitamin D status, and all kinds of disease and Vitamin D status, so it could be that being in poor condition results in low vitamin D, but I like to think correcting Vitamin D may benefit people somewhat independently of other factors.
You can compensate taste-wise with bacon, butter, cheese and cream. Though I admit it’s too much of a burden to avoid bread and potatoes relying on American restaurants.
I can eat a lot of chili, but I cannot eat only chili.
“I can eat a lot of chili, but I cannot eat only chili.”
I cannot afford to make a lot of chili. And it goes so well on baked potatoes…and french fries…and tater tots…
Or you could plug your CPAP into one of those jumper/air pump/light units which is what I do when I go camping.
Seriously, if there is any possibility you may have sleep apnea, and you can scrape up the money, get the sleep study and CPAP because if you need it you will feel so much better. I couldn’t believe the difference it made. Since it’s a prescription medical device it would be illegal for you to do what some folks without insurance do, scout around and find someone with an old unit you can buy off them cheap and experiment around with the settings until you find one that works for you, so I couldn’t recommend doing anything like that.
I stand corrected. That’s good advice. Avoid white foods and you will lose weight. (Those aren’t the gov’t dietary guidelines; they’re the biologically correct guidelines.
See anonymous’s posts on this topic, or mine.
Since I’ve been doing exactly that for ~5 years now, I can say: no, it’s not too much of a burden. Once you realize how much better you feel, it’s a piece of cake (so to speak).
My little vitamin has 400 IU of vitamin D, which is, the label says, “100% DV.” So a person who weighs 125 pounds would need to take 50 IUs times 125, or 6,250 IUs?
Well, it’s not easy, especially if you’re a trucker I imagine.
Totally. 400IU is what’s required to avoid rickets. The theory (and there’s a considerable evidence) is that there’s long term negative effects to lesser deficiencies. In the summer, full body sun would make about 10,000 IU of vitamin D in about 2 hours (if memory serves), so 6,250 is a biological amount of Vitamin D assuming you were nude and in the sun a large part of the day.
Meh. It depends upon the person.
That type of diet works well for some. For others, portion control or increased exercise with the same diet, or a dozen other approaches might make more sense.
Think Napoleon: when we’re talking about things as personal and constant as managing the food we eat, the moral is to the physical as three to one.
I have a business partner who dropped 120+ lbs. in the last year. His diet is, in a word, ridiculous. But he believes it will work, he’s capable of following it, and thus it works for him.
I have another business partner who has a less silly diet imposed by his wife. He’s put on maybe 25 lbs. in the last two years, because he stuffs himself at work with foods he isn’t regularly “allowed” at home.
thank you. :)