Dangers of shift work
The basic way to describe shift work is when a person does different shifts from the majority of people – 9 to 6 working hours, or it can also mean, that a person is doing more than a normal 8 hours per shift.
Our society quickly developing into a 24/7 society, mostly because of the growth of the economy. The percentage of people doing shift work is rapidly increasing year by year and now includes about 20% of the working population. And – this number is growing each year.
There are a few underlying problems with shift work. People who do shift work usually take sick leave more often, and also they have an increased risk of getting some lifestyle related diseases like ulcer, or heart problems.
The stress can also lead into sleep disorders, which affect not only the quality of your sleep, but also impact your daily activities.
Provigil and narcolepsy treatment
Provigil is a very well-known medicine, which has been approved by the FDA and widely used for the treatment of all sorts of sleep disorders. There are a few sleep disorders for which Provigil has been specifically recommended:
- narcolepsy
- sleep apnea
- shift work sleep disorder
The company’s name, producing Provigil, is Cephalon. The active ingredient on Provigil is Modafinil.
Make sure that you take Provigil as prescribed by the medical professional. Provigil has only been approved for adults, 16 y.o. and older.
It’s also gaining popularity as a lifestyle medicine, taken by those who need to stay awake for extended periods of time. It works like other stimulants, helping people stay alerted and brighten the mood.
In about 5% Provigil may cause side effects. For the full list of side effects please see your health care professional.
Apathy treatment
Apathy is one of the few symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, which affect about 70% pf patients during all stages of the disease.
It also can happen in patients with dementia. Depression is very often mistaken for apathy.
One of the medicines which is prescribed to these patients is Provigil. One of the reasons for that is that Provigil is very well tolerated when is taken with other medicines. This is a very important thing for aged patients, as they usually take lots of medications.
Potentially it can also be used to treat people who did not respond well to the treatment by antidepressants.
Provigil Dosage
A few studies have been performed to check which way of taking Provigil is efficient – take it once a day, 1 tablet in a morning or in the beginning of each shift, or take it during the day in small portions? The studies performed were random, blind studies with a control placebo group.
The main reason to perform that study was a fact that Provigil usually works best in the first two hours of taking it, but the sleepiness effect of narcolepsy lasts a day.
The study had shown, that taking small portions of Provigil is more efficient than taking 1 portion a day, because it also helps people to stay awake during evening time.
You need to chose with your doctor which regime is better for you, as both of them are quite well tolerated.