Staying awake for 24 hours is the equivalent of having a blood alcohol level of 0.1, which exceeds Ohio’s 0.08 legal driving limit.

According to Dr. Michael Neeb, the director of Mercy Sleep Disorders Program, sparse sleep destroys brain cells on a nightly basis and makes people less productive during the day.

Neeb will share his more than 30 years of experience in sleep medicine during a free educational lecture titled “Running on Empty: The Importance of Sleep” at 7 p.m. June 9 at Way Public Library, 101 E. Indiana Ave., in Perrysburg.

“I fell into the sleep world by accident,” said Neeb, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology. “Back in the 1980s, sleep was really starting to take off as a respected medical discipline. I’ve been fortunate to ride that wave. Getting a healthy amount of sleep makes a huge difference in your quality of life.”

Neeb hopes that his presentation will persuade people to start sleeping seven to nine hours every night.

“Why is it that I have to convince people to sleep more? It’s a fairly enjoyable activity and yet we all continually shortchange ourselves on how much sleep we’re getting,” Neeb said. “I’m here to suggest why that’s not a smart move.”

According to Neeb, sleep disorders may cause a number of health issues, including high blood pressure, weight gain and obesity, fatigue and depression.

“From a personal perspective, I’ve become very aware of how eight hours of sleep affects the clarity of my thinking and ability to speak clearly compared to six hours of sleep,” Neeb said. “I have been focused quite a bit over the last few years dealing with the issue of how sleepiness and sleep disorders affect us.”

Various psychological, medical, genetic and environmental factors create the circumstances for the more than 80 existing sleep disorders. Insomnia, the United States’ most common sleeping disorder, burdens 15-20 percent of the population with the challenge of falling or staying asleep.

Indicators of a sleep disorder include snoring, losing focus at work, having trouble waking up in the morning and sleeping in on the weekends.

“If you snore, then you should have it checked out,” Neeb said. “People laugh snoring off and it becomes funny. Sometimes snoring is snoring. However, many times snoring is just the tip of the iceberg and it needs attention.”

Snoring is the chief sign of sleep apnea, the most common disorder that sleep centers observe. Sleep apnea occurs when air supply gets cut off between the lungs and brain, causing the sleeper’s body to jolt awake during the night.

To prevent sleep disorders, Neeb encourages people to eat well, exercise, minimize stress, unwind for two to three hours before bedtime and establish a regular sleeping schedule.

“The biggest thing I can suggest is to pick a bedtime and stick to it every day of the week,” Neeb said. “Your body needs to know when it’s time to go to sleep and when it’s time to get up.”

Neeb’s lecture on the importance of sleep is part of a larger partnership between Way Public Library and Mercy. The two organizations have co-sponsored health-related lectures since May 2013.

“The library itself is not just about books anymore,” said Lisa Richard, program coordinator at Way Public Library. “We consider ourselves a community center. It was a natural fit to partner with Mercy once they broke ground with the new ER in Perrysburg. We utilize their expertise to offer programs that benefit our community.”

These educational programs at Way provide information, entertainment and “a little something” for people to think about when making decisions down the road, according to Richard.

In addition to Neeb’s lecture, Mercy health professionals will be at the event to administer free blood pressure screenings for interested attendees from 6:30-8 p.m.

“Perrysburg is a community that we hold near and dear to our heart,” said Kathy Valtin, marketing and communications manager at Mercy. “We want folks to know that we would like to partner with them for their overall health needs — not just be with them when they’re sick.”

The library expects to continue its partnership with Mercy for many years to come, Richard said. “Running on Empty: The Importance of Sleep” will be the eighth health-related presentation that Mercy and Way have co-sponsored together over the past year.

“If the people of Toledo all got seven to nine hours of sleep per night, I believe we would be a much healthier and happier city,” Neeb said. “I believe we would have less cardiac conditions and less car accidents on the road from lousy driving. I suspect we’d be more tolerant of others and more productive in the workplace. That’s what consistent sleep has to offer you.”

A group of politicians, civic and religious leaders is standing up to oppose a controversial bill they say limits the rights of Ohio voters.

At a news conference May 8, a group called Ohioans for a Voter Bill of Rights gave its point of view on the bill and proposed one of its own.

According to Toledo City Councilwoman Lindsay Webb, voters in Ohio are being unfairly treated by the political system. Her group hopes to change that.

“We want to make sure every citizen has the opportunity to vote, that they can cast a vote, and that they can have their vote counted,” Webb said. “That is the end game.”

Webb said the issues within the current voting system started with the introduction of House Bill 194 in 2012.

“House Bill 194 basically took a number of I would say issues that have net effect of creating a chilling atmosphere,” Webb said. “It’s almost like a voter suppression act.”

House Bill 194 outlined a number of regulations to the voting system and gave the final decision on absentee and early voting dates, locations and times to the Secretary of State. Some of the rules, Webb said, seemed specifically designed to make voting more difficult for citizens in more rural cities around Ohio.

Rev. Pastor Talmadge Thomas of the City of Zion, the Mt. Zion Church, disagrees with the restrictive hours outlined in House Bill 194.

“The bill is very unfair and very unfriendly,” Thomas said.

Members of the community signed a petition against House Bill 194 at its conception, and the Ohio House of Representatives passed a referendum repealing the bill later that year.

Opponents of the bill rejoiced, Webb said, and felt the issue would need no further observation.

Webb said no sooner had the referendum passed than the bill slowly began to reemerge. Part by part, the original resolutions went through the House. The content and goals of the legislation were the same as before, but the process was slowed to divert attention.

“What ended up happening then was that the majority in the statehouse began to pass HB 194 resolutions piecemeal,” Webb said. “Instead of having one gigantic repressive bill, they passed it piecemeal over the last one and a half or two years.”

Once the bill full resurfaced, many Ohio politicians and community members fought back. State Representatives Alicia Reece and Vernon Sykes, along with John Smith and Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, formed a committee to represent petitioners at the news conference. The new goal was no longer limited to stopping House Bill 194.

“They want to take certain things that people expect about voting and write it in a constitution,” Webb said. “Rather than have it subjected to will and whim of elected officials and Secretary of State.”

Thomas said that a new bill of rights would be a step in the right direction in terms of proliferating the spirit of democracy in Ohio.

“It speaks to the heart of the original Voter Bill of Rights giving people opportunity without being disenfranchised, without being inhibited,” Thomas said.

One specific issue Webb said she hopes the proposed bill of rights can alleviate is unfair vote counting practices. Under the model of House Bill 194, if a citizen votes in the wrong precinct of the correct voting location, their vote may not be counted.

Thomas said arriving at incorrect voting stations is quite common amongst his parishioners and that conveying voter station information is often too slow.

“I have several people who went to places they voted previously to find their place had been moved,” Thomas said. “Information not disseminated properly. If you’ve been voted in the same place for several years, you have reason to believe you’ll be voting there.”

Webb said her experience as a clerk for the Lucas County Board of Elections during the Bush versus Gore campaign showed her how necessary proper vote counting is in a state with as much political leverage as Ohio.

“I have seen firsthand how chaotic these types of elections can be and, considering Ohio’s place in the federal election cycle, it’s important that we get it right,” Webb said.

Thomas said he feels a sense of confidence in voting. He said he believes local elections are that necessary first step and perfecting that system will lead to better understanding of what the public wants.

“I really believe that this bill helps to promote democracy,” Thomas said. “It’s not about telling people who to vote for, that’s what we think is most important. I believe that local places are what really move the ball.”

Thirteen Toledo-area high school seniors just got $1,000 closer to achieving their career goals. The Toledo Police Command Officers Association (TPCOA) announced the recipients of the Rose Reder Memorial Scholarship award May 13.

As a requirement for the scholarship, which was established in 1999 in memory of Toledo Police Sgt. Rose Reder, the recipients are required to display an interest in pursuing a career in law enforcement.

One of these recipients, Lucas Elfreich, will study political science at Miami University in Ohio next year.

Elfreich said there were two people who inspired him in the field of law enforcement — his grandfather, who was a sergeant in the Toledo Police Department, and one of his history teachers, Corri Helldobler, at Central Catholic High School.

“I always had a deep fascination with law,” Elfreich said. “My grandfather always said, ‘Don’t study what other people tell you to do. Study what you love, what you’re passionate about.’  In my history class, it was just the one subject I always loved. It’s just naturally what it is. It’s what I like to learn about. It’s what I like to read about.”

With the application form, each student was required to submit two letters of recommendation, a transcript and an essay detailing the student’s future career plans.

Rose Reder Memorial Scholarship Chairman Laurie Renz said the TPCOA was looking for more than academic excellence.

“The scholarships are given based on their application,” Renz, who is also a Toledo police sergeant assigned to internal affairs,  said. “Students must have an interest in pursuing some sort of studies related to law enforcement — law, police work, or sociology or another area dealing with law enforcement. We’re looking for well-rounded individuals.”

Because the students are presented a scholarship certificate at their local schools, ceremonies are still ongoing with Clay High School scheduled for the evening of May 20 and Lake High School on May 22.

The Rose Reder Memorial Scholarship recipients for 2014 are:

• Chloe Brown
• Katie Collins
• Jacob Cornell
• Lucas Elfreich
• Jacquelyn Korsog
• Dallas Kwapich
• Chelsea Miller
• Kaitlyn Mueller
• Kelsey Permar
• Madeline Seluwski
• Cassidy Turner
• Erica Tullis
• Nicole Weis

Local Medicaid health care providers are fighting funding cuts that will lower their reimbursement and decrease the number of people who qualify for their services.

Representatives from Harbor, one of four Medicaid Health Home providers in Northwest Ohio, attended a meeting to address the cuts at the Ohio Statehouse on May 15. The other providers are Unison Behavioral Health, Family Services of Northwest Ohio and The Zepf Center.

Jean Drees, marketing director for Harbor, said the purpose of the meeting was to ask the Department of Medicaid to extend funding for Health Home.

“The state is now trying to restrict and change the program, and that’s what we’re opposing,” Drees said.

Drees said she fears the repercussions of cutting funding this early. She said although progress may be slow at first, the Health Home providers are seeing success.

“We would no longer be allowed to offer the services if the funding does get cut,” Drees said. “What we would have then is what we’d be undoing, going back to basic services.”

Drees said the basic services threatened by the cut include primary health care. Under the improved Health Home model, patients would be granted more efficient primary care.

Detrimental decisions

Catina Harding, executive director for the Great Lakes Collaborative for Autism, said she feels cutting funding now would be detrimental.

“There’s just a ton of consequences,” she said. “Through Medicaid Health Home you have continual communication with doctors, schools, and it allows families to focus on being healthy rather than focusing on crisis.”

Harding’s organization does not directly deal with patients, but works on behalf of struggling families to look for solutions to their financial issues. In her testimony, Harding described the challenge an autism diagnosis presents to the average family.

“[Families] are told their child has autism, insurance does not cover the services they will need, and good luck finding the programs that will work for your family, because each child, adolescent and adult with autism is very different with very unique needs, behaviors and challenges,” Harding said.

Many of the over 3,000 beneficiaries of Harbor’s services qualify as having a “severe and persistent mental disorder,” which makes taking medications for routine issues such as diabetes a challenge.

“What [cutting funding] would mean is we would not be able to help them the way we’re currently helping them,” Drees said. “People with this diagnosis die 25 years earlier than the rest of the population. Not because they’re depressive, have anxiety disorders or bipolar disorders. They die because they cannot manage primary care issues.”

Drees said people who qualify for the type of aid available under the program can forgo more expensive emergency room visits thanks to on-call health consultants who manage vitals for clients.

“The data shows that this group of clients are extremely expensive to the system,” Drees said. “Their care is not very good, so it’s a new delivery service approach that we’re taking with a better serving of the population that needs help coupled with a better cost outcome.”

Harding said she sees cost benefits of maintaining the Health Home program, and urged board members to look at the numbers.

“They should put the criteria changes on hold until they look at the data out there to see what makes the most sense for the families in terms of serving their needs,” Harding said.

Drees said she believes the system Harbor uses is “in total line with where health care is going” on a national level.

“This is the right way to serve this population from a cost-effective perspective,” Drees said. “We’re moving them toward well-health, otherwise they’ll ride Medicaid for the rest of their lives.”

Looking forward, Drees said she hopes the higher powers in health care take a careful look at their priorities and see that the program will flourish with more time.

“We need to be able to prove outcomes and we’re only 18 months into the pilot,” Drees said. “The whole health care system is changing. For people who have never managed their primary care needs, it takes a while to make them healthier.”

Harding said she is unsure of whether her speech made the impact she wanted, but hopes that someone can provide a reason for funding cuts.

“It does not make any sense that you would take a model that was working for our most challenged community members just to cross a few numbers out of the budget,” Harding said. “And there’s no good explanation for that either. There’s no legitimate, good explanation for why that decision is being made.”