RetGen

Researchers from The University of Auckland are about to begin a study to find how to better help blind and vision-impaired people manage the chronic sleeping disorders many face.

Dr Guy Warman, a lecturer at the Department of Anaesthesiology in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences is leading the study. He says they will investigate the prevalence of disturbances in the circadian rhythms of blind people, and how the hormone melatonin is being used to treat this.

"Although the primary problem associated with blindness is loss of vision, a secondary problem which can have a major impact on the health and well-being of blind people is the disruption of their sleep-wake cycles. This problem results from the inability of light to adjust their internal biological clock to a period 24 hours. As a result they can have disrupted sleep at night".

The study is funded by a grant from the Health Research Council of New Zealand and is being carried out in association with the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB).
'Study to investigate sleep disturbances in blind and vision-impaired' (University of Auckland media release at Scoop, 25 October 2005).