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In recent years, snoring and sleep apnea have been linked to many serious health problems, such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart attacks, and strokes.<\/p>\nIn recent years, snoring and sleep apnea have been linked to many serious health problems, such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart attacks, and strokes.<\/p>\n
But blindness\u2014that\u2019s something new.<\/p>\n
A study just published in BMJ Open describes exactly how snoring and, even more seriously, sleep apnea cause blindness.<\/p>\n
A collection of eye diseases known as glaucoma has the potential to harm the optic nerve, which transmits visual data from the eye to the brain.<\/p>\n
Glaucoma is frequently brought on by elevated eye pressure, which can harm the optic nerve over time.<\/p>\n
This is a common cause of irreversible blindness, especially as people age.<\/p>\n
Since this eye disease is so destructive, researchers want high-risk groups to be screened so that it can be treated before it causes too much damage.<\/p>\n
The authors of this study knew that people with sleep disorders were at risk of glaucoma, so they set out to discover exactly which sleep disturbances posed a risk.<\/p>\n
They analyzed the information of 409,053 participants in the UK Biobank, who supplied details of their sleep behaviors. All of them were between the ages of 40 and 69.<\/p>\n
They used the same database to identify people diagnosed with glaucoma. Based on this information, they could link sleep behaviors with glaucoma.<\/p>\n
This is what they found:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 2.\tInsomnia increased their risk by 12%.<\/p>\n 3.\tSnoring increased their risk by 4%.<\/p>\n 4.\tDaytime sleepiness, which is often a result of sleep apnea, increased their risk by 20%.<\/p>\n 5.\tPeople who snored and suffered from daytime sleepiness together had a 10% higher risk of glaucoma.<\/p>\n 6.\tThose who were both insomniacs and struggled with long or short sleep duration had a 13% higher risk.\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n The researchers did not test sleep apnea specifically, but it is reasonable to assume that many of those with daytime sleepiness suffered from it.<\/p>\n So, why does it seem like these sleep disorders cause glaucoma?<\/p>\n The pressure inside our eyes rises when we lie down and when our sleep hormones are out of balance. High eye pressure is the primary cause of glaucoma.<\/p>\n Equally importantly, low oxygen in our cells, as is the case in snoring and sleep apnea, can directly damage our optic nerves.<\/p>\n Therefore, to prevent this irreversible cause of blindness, you must consider treating your snoring or sleep apnea as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n