Have the whites of your eyes yellowed as you aged? Do you have trouble sleeping? These two symptoms may be linked.
First, see your doctor. According to research, cataracts have been shown to be a factor in frequent insomnia among seniors. Sleep quality has improved after cataract surgery.
A natural age-related yellowing of the eye lens that absorbs blue light has been linked to sleep disorders in a group of test volunteers, according to a study in the journal Sleep. As this type of lens discoloration worsened with age, so did the risk of insomnia.
The 970 study volunteers had their eyes examined by lens autofluorometry; a non-invasive method that determined how much blue light was transmitted into the retina. Blue light influences the sleep cycle by helping initiate the release of the hormone Melatonin, which tells the body when it's time to go to sleep or stay awake.
“The strong link between lens yellowing and age could help explain why sleep disorders become more frequent with increasing age,” said Line Kessel, M.D., Ph.D., the study's lead author. “The results showed that while age-related lens yellowing is of relatively little importance for visual function, it may be responsible for insomnia in the elderly,” added Kessel, a senior scientist in the Department of Opthalmology at Glostrup Hospital in Denmark.
She said sleep quality has been shown to improve after cataract surgery. “The transmission of blue light currently cannot be improved by any other method than cataract surgery. I’m involved with another research project where we try non-invasively to remove the yellow color of the lens using a laser, but the method is not yet developed for clinical use,” Kessel said.
There may be many other reasons for insomnia unrelated to eye color or cataracts. According to Sleep, volume 34, issue 04, “excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) affects up to 10% to 33% of the elderly. Older adults and health care providers often view EDS as a normal aspect of aging. However, EDS has been associated with significant consequences, including an increased incidence of functional impairment, falls, cognitive deficits, and mortality.”
If you’re having difficulty sleeping, it will impact your life. Please see your doctor to determine possible reasons. Some seniors may be anxious about being alone. In such cases, having a family member or caregiver there at night may allow the senior to sleep much better.
Rachel Carson, Certified Senior Advisor, is the owner of Home Instead Senior Care serving Chatham, Jasper and Beaufort counties since 1997.
