[CQ-Contest] Sleep Deprivation

[Mike Gilmer - N2MG]

I don't know...It is a confusing graph and set of 
captions/words.

Since there are separate lines (black and red) for 
caffeine and non-caffeine BEFORE the 48hour point, 
that tells me that they we administering caffeine all 
along. The result being that little benefit was gained 
from the caffeine prior to the pre-48-hour point.

However on another page, it says, "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"

This seems to imply that no caffeine was administered prior to teh 48-hr point.  So why the separate graph 
lines (red and black) prior to 48 hours?

Mike N2MG


On Thu, 04 October 2001, Sylvan Katz wrote:

> 
> 
> >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

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