Content provided in partnership with

Retinal damage may cause sleep disorders

Young people who suffer from eye diseases that cause damage to the inner part of the retina and optic nerve are more likely to have sleep disorders than are people who have other types of eye disease of normal vision, according to a Feb 1, 2004, news release from Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis. The retina contains photoreceptor cells (ie, rods and canes) that translate Light into vision. Recent research has shown that the retina also contains nonvisual photoreceptor cells called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion (ipRG) cells that function as the eye's "tight meter." By determining tight levels, ipRG cells help synchronize the body's internal clock and sleep/wake cycle; control the eye's response to tight, and regulate the release of hormones, such as melatonin. The researchers hypothesized that young people with optic nerve disease might, therefore, have trouble regulating their internal body clocks.

Most Popular Articles in Health: Fuel your workout: exercisers who eat before they work out have more energy ...; Soothe a dry, itchy scalp: 5 easy expert solutions; Cocktails and calories: Beer, wine and liquor calories can really add up. ...; The sour truth about apple cider vinegar - evaluation of therapeutic use; The, six best supplements you've never heard of: these secret weapons can ...; More »

Researchers studied 25 students, ages 12 to 20, who attend a school for the blind and 12 students with normal vision who attend a suburban boarding school. The students with visual impairment were divided into two groups--those whose vision problems were related to optic nerve disease and those whose vision loss was related to other factors. Every day during a two-week period, participants wore a device called a wrist-worn actigraph that measured their movements. A computer algorithm was then used to analyze the movement information to determine when participants were awake of asleep and active of inactive.

The students with optic nerve disease had highly variable wake up times and more trouble sleeping compared to participants in the other two groups. Participants with optic nerve disease also were 20 times more tike[y to be pathologically sleepy (ie, nap more than 20 minutes per day) than those with normal vision, and nine times more likely to be pathologically sleepy than young people who were blind from nonoptic nerve diseases. None of the participants had other conditions that might contribute to sleep disorders. Researchers suggest that physicians and other health care providers should be sensitive to the possibility of daytime sleepiness and insomnia in their patients who have optic nerve disease.

Optic Nerve Disease May Cause Sleep Disorders (news release, St Louis: Washington University School of Medicine, Feb 1, 2004) http://mednews.wustl.edu/med admin/PAnews.nsf/PrintView/5FE4E965F7A3A62B86256E 2900736E24?OpenDocument (accessed 8 March 2004).

Health Care Industry

Retinal damage may cause sleep disorders

AORN Journal, June, 2004

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: News

Most Popular Articles in Health

Most Popular Publications in Health