[CQ-Contest] Sleep Deprivation

[Sylvan Katz]

>http://wrair-www.army.mil/depts/behavbio/caf2.gif
>
> which for those who can't be bothered to click on it, shows that for 48
> hours at least, a placebo worked as well as caffeine....
>
> 73s Tim EI8IC


Ooops - that is not the way I read the graph.

The graph seems to say that if 600 mg of caffeine is administer after 48
hours of sleep deprivation (note the arrow to the 48 hours mark under the
legend) those that receive caffeine exhibited a significant increase in
throughput (about 25% increase) for the next 10-12 hours compared to the
placebo group.

In fact in the text the researchers say:
"In a search for a safe, effective stimulant to sustain performance when
sleep is not possible due to operational reasons, we established that a
single dose of caffeine (300-600 mg; the equivalent of 3-6 cups of brewed
coffee) can improve performance for 10-12 hours after 48 hours without sleep
(see figure: Caffeine after 48 Hours of Sleep Deprivation: Performance on
Serial Addition/Subtraction). Caffeine, in tablet form, is currently
considered the drug of choice for the stimulant to sustain performance
component of the Sleep Management System."

This restores my faith in a couple of good cups of Java during a contest :-)

.. sylvan

----------------
Sylvan Katz, VE5ZX
Saskatoon, SK


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