Caffeinated Gum Maintains Vigilance, Marksmanship, and PVT Performance During a 55 Hour Field Trial
Abstract
In a 2001 report the Committee on Military Nutrition Research (CMNR) stated that military personnel are often placed in unique situations in which extended alertness is required. This is most evident in situations involving sentry duty, radar monitoring, communications, long-range air support missions, and logistical supply requirements as well as in combat itself. In addition, personnel are often required to forgo sleep in order to meet mission requirements and this inevitably leads to various degrees of sleep deprivation. It is well accepted that restricted and/or total sleep deprivation will result in a concomitant impairment in cognitive performance (for reviews see Angus et al., 1992; Dinges and Kribbs, 1991). Caffeine's ability to maintain or improve mental performance in rested, fatigued, and/or sleep deprived individuals has been well documented (for reviews see Fredholm et al., 1999; Lieberman et al., 2001; and Smith, 2002) and the CMNR (2001) has recommended caffeine for use as a fatigue countermeasure. Two important areas of concern with caffeine are how it can be delivered and the duration of its effects. Kamimori et al. (2002) have demonstrated that caffeine, administered in a chewing gum formulation, can be delivered three times faster in comparison to a capsule formulation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA433562
Entities
People
- D. Bell
- D. Johnson
- G. Belenky
- G. H. Kamimori
- T. Mclellan
Organizations
- Walter Reed Army Institute of Research