A sleep “poor” and too short or too long could not only lead to the disorders we have often talked about (for example cardiovascular) but, according to a new study, also to vision problems because of glaucoma. Which on the other hand is already in itself the second cause of visual impairment and blindness in Italy.
A group of Chinese researchers has in fact discovered that resting too little or too much and therefore experiencing problems such as daytime sleepiness, insomnia And snoring can lead to an increased likelihood of the condition in which the optic nerve, the nerve responsible for transmitting visual information to the brain, ends up suffering from problems related to increased pressure inside the eye and in limited cases to the reduction of the blood supply to the optic nerve.
Damage to the optic nerve initially manifests itself with a loss of the visual field in the more peripheral portions, progressively involving the central parts of the visual field. If not treated in the right way and at the right time – and there are many therapies, from eye drops to diode laser cyclophotocoagulation up to trabeculectomy, which is the standard procedure – it can lead to blindness. It is estimated that glaucoma will affect around 112 million people by 2040.
In the survey the scientists studied the data of 409,053 people extracts from the UK Biobank, all aged between 40 and 69 at the time of involvement, between 2006 and 2010. Each had at the time provided a detailed account of their sleep habits and rest as well as many other basic information such as age, gender, lifestyle, weight, origin, education and residence. After tracking participants for just over 10 years, the team identified Ben 8,690 cases of the onset of some kind of glaucoma.
The sketch? People affected by glaucoma tended to be older and more often they were males. Also, they were more likely to be smokers and to have the high pressure or the diabetes compared to those who had not developed the disease. The study also found that short or long sleep, insomnia, snoring and frequent daytime sleepiness the possibilities increased to develop the disease.
In particular, those who slept above or below seven to nine hours they were 8% more likely to suffer from glaucoma, while those with insomnia were 12% more likely to have vision problems. Again: for people with snoring there was instead a 4% higher risk and people who were often sleepy during the day had a 20% higher risk of developing the disease.
According to the survey, published on BMJ Openalso try to provide some explanations of this observational link. One of the starting points is that pressure on the eye, when lying down, is a key factor in the development of glaucoma. Also, repeated intake of low oxygen levelswhich is the result of snoring and sleep apnea, can damage the nerve in the eye.
And the role of insomnia? It concerns the sleep hormones: Those of insomniacs are out of sync, which can affect eye health and internal cycles of constant water production and reabsorption (aqueous humour). Also, depression and anxiety go hand in hand with insomnia and can increase the pressure inside your eyes. As always the opposite may also be truewhen the causal link is not proven: i.e. that glaucoma itself influences sleep patterns, rather than the other way around.
“Because sleep behaviors are modifiable, these findings underscore the need for sleep intervention for individuals at high risk for glaucoma and the potential ophthalmological screening among individuals with chronic sleep problems to help prevent it, the researchers wrote in a Press release of the survey, funded by the National Science Foundation of China – the findings underscore the need for sleep therapy in people at high risk of the disease, as well as eye checkups among people with chronic sleep disorders to check for early signs of glaucoma”.
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Source: Vanity Fair
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