Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Blog | Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

According to a study published in the journal Thorax, people with sleep apnea, in which their sleep is disrupted by breathing difficulties, suffer double the risk of being in an auto accident. Studying the records of nearly 1600 clients of the Insurance Corporation of British Colubia, researchers from the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and the University of British Columbia, were surprised not only by the frequency of crashes suffered by apnea sufferers, but also by the severity. Even patients with mild sleep apnea had an increased risk of suffering a serious injury accident.

In sleep apnea, a person stops breathing for ten seconds, causing his or her brain an oxygen shortage, which causes him or her to wake up to resume breathing ten or more times an hour. One known side effect of sleep apnea is daytime drowsiness, but self-reported drowsiness did not correlate with higher accident rates, leading researchers to conclude that sufferers may not be aware they are at increased risk of accidents.

Treatments for sleep apnea exist, and this new evidence suggests that sufferers should have the treatment to protect not only themselves, but other drivers on the road. If you or someone you love has been injured in a car accident in Philadelphia, Penssylvania, contact the experienced auto accident attorneys at Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis to schedule an initial consultation.