Study shows poor sleep can lead to blindness

Question

A new study has warned that poor sleep could cause irreversible damage to the eyes, leading to vision loss due to glaucoma. Chinese researchers have said that too much sleep or too little of it, daytime sleepiness,...

Comments

This source isn't very credible, it lacks any sources and it doesn't provide that much information.

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According to Harvard Health, poor sleep can cause glaucoma, which is the leading cause of blindness. Not only could it cause blindness but other health problems such as weight gain, and mood disorders such as dementia.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/poor-sleep-linked-to-a-common-cause-of-blindness#:~:text=Poor%20sleep%20is%20tied%20to,a%20leading%20cause%20of%20blindness.

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As the other said, there is no link to the study results in the article. This study found a connection between poor sleep and glaucoma. Since it's observational, it doesn't prove that poor sleep directly causes glaucoma. However, researchers think poor sleep could raise eye pressure or reduce oxygen to the optic nerve, which can lead to glaucoma.
https://neurosciencenews.com/glaucoma-sleep-21775/

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This source does not appear to be very credible due to missing citations and limited information. Research indicates that poor sleep may be linked to glaucoma, but does not prove a direct cause. Experts think poor sleep may raise eye pressure or reduce oxygen to the optic nerve, increasing the risk of glaucoma.

Answer 1

This claim is true! Although the article is from 2022 and the author is "web desk" which cannot be tied to a real name, the data provided is from bmj journals. I found the exact prospective cohort study in the UK Biobank (https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/11/e063676). Their conclusion proves the claim true, but the study only represents the subjects tested, not the entire UK population. Listed are the names of the researches and all the information valuable results. 

Comments

I was surprised to hear that you say it is true! I wish you provided statistics or data from the study. Furthermore, I'd appreciate a thorough description of the scientific methods used to come to that conclusion. The years in which the study was conducted would also increase credibility. To me, the author being "web desk" is very shady. After visiting the article myself, I found that it clearly lists the authors names e.g. Yihan Hu, Yajing Sun, Huan Song, etc. I also found that it initially involved over 500,000 participants. The article itself references 45 sources. With the article's scientific method and credibility confirmed, I did arrived at the same conclusion: that negative sleep behaviors increase the risk of glaucoma.

Answer 2

This article says that new studies show poor sleep can lead to blindness due to various factors such as age, sex, weight, lifestyle, education, and socioeconomic status etc. However, the article provided does not link any specific studies they are referencing. There are only two hyperlinks provided, and they take you to the same website, again with no specific scientific studies mentioned.

Comments

I agree that its suspicious to not have a link to the study that was mentioned, but there still was a specific study described in the article. I would agree with you that this fact isn't necessarily true, because they just said "Researchers in China" instead of citing a source, but for a more accurate fact check I would mention that there was a specific study, just not a proven one.

Answer 3

The claim in the article's title that poor sleep can lead to blindness might sound a bit exaggerated, but it's not entirely untrue that unhealthy sleeping can cause long-lasting vision damage. The article doesn't link its sources directly, but it seems to be pulling most of its data from this study:

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/11/e063676

Things like snoring, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and too much or too little sleep can cause glaucoma over time. This glaucoma may lead to blindess, but the claim that bad sleep itself causes blindness directly is an exaggeration.

Answer 4

I found this claim to be true. The idea behind this claim is the pressure from your eyes while sleeping will cause glaucoma progression. Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness. Harvard states that sleeping for to little or to long or having insomnia increases the chances of a person having glaucoma by 13%. This claim is also supported by the Glaucoma Research Foundation who also states that even the way you sleep or your pillow can affect your chances of glaucoma. 

Harvard 

Glaucoma Research Foundation

Answer 5

A Chinese study that linked poor sleep habits to a higher risk of glaucoma, a major cause of blindness, is highlighted in the article. More context is needed for details such as how percentages (e.g., 8% higher risk for irregular sleep duration, 20% for daytime sleeping) were calculated, even though the inclusion of over 400,000 UK Biobank participants lends credibility (www.bmjopen.bmj.com). There should be more references to support the important theory that sleep-related factors, such as snoring or lying down, can raise eye pressure (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).

Answer 6

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/poor-sleep-linked-to-a-common-cause-of-blindness#:~:text=Poor%20sleep%20is%20tied%20to,a%20leading%20cause%20of%20blindness

The study within the article references a shady unclearly authored observational study without enough evidence to draw direct links between poor sleep and blindness, an attribution that could have anything to do with a number of lifestyle engagements besides poor sleep.

The Harvard study offers some link between poor sleep and an increased risk of glaucoma but that's only one cause of blindness and says nothing about the other negative symptoms of poor sleep such as inflammation, dementia, etc.