  VA NY Harbor Healthcare System   Sleep Disorders: Another
Deadly Threat to Returning Veterans   Get Updates  Subscribe to
Receive Email Updates  Photo of Dr. Mohammad Al-Ajam.  Dr.
Mohammad Al-Ajam.  By Alysia Santo, Columbia School of
Journalism Monday, December 13, 2010  Last week, Joseph Jones,
43, nearly killed himself while driving home from his job as a
welder for the Army. He fell asleep while barreling down route
9A from Camp Smith in upstate New York back to his home in
Astoria, Queens, a 52-mile journey.  "I literally hit the
concrete barrier but I woke up in time enough to turn the
wheel," says Jones. Turning the music up is his strategy to
avoid drowsiness, but still, Jones says he falls asleep while
driving, "like everyday".  Jones was able to avoid an accident,
but this close call scared him. "I don’t want to kill nobody,
and I definitely don’t want to kill myself," he says.  Sleep
disorders, like the sleep apnea that makes Jones susceptible to
falling asleep without warning almost any time of