CHAPTER 16: SLEEP LOSS & VISION DEGENERATION

By DARIUS CREED

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Most of us abuse our vision with reckless abandon. We may spend too many hours on our phones and computers or read for too long without giving our eyes a break. We may sit too closely to the television screen or spend time in environments that expose our eyes to contaminants. Some of us don’t protect our eyes from excessive sun exposure, while others don’t get enough natural sunlight. And on top of all of that, many of us neglect our sleep.

I’m guilty of all the above. How about you?

Since vision tends to decline later in life, a lot of us assume the loss in sight has to do with aging. To some degree, there is truth to this. Yet, the way we age and how soon the process occurs has more to do with how we take care of ourselves than an arbitrary point in our lifetime. That’s why no two individuals age at exactly the same rate.

Nutrition, exercise, and other daily habits all play a significant role in the health of our vision. Well, sleep happens to be among those habits that matter.

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How Sleep Deprivation Harms Vision

A recent study using mice revealed that chronic sleep deficiency caused dysfunction of the stem cells within their eyes’ corneas (Li et al., 2022). This disruption led to a gradual degeneration of their sight. Whether humans experience the same problem has yet to be determined.

Nevertheless, failing to get enough sleep has been confirmed to harm vision in several other ways. For example, sleep loss can interfere with tear secretion, which has been found to cause damage to the eye (Li et al., 2022).

Sleep insufficiency has also been implicated in increased levels of free radicals and inflammation (Atrooz & Salim, 2020). These oxidative effects can impact the eyes as well (Cabrera & Chihuailaf, 2011).

Long-term sleep deprivation is strongly associated with hypertension (HTN; Palagini et al., 2013). If blood pressure rises too high and remains elevated for too long, hypertensive retinopathy can result, which is characterized by the abnormal development and occlusion of vessels behind the retina (Tsukikawa & Stacey, 2020).

One more thing to keep in mind. As previously explained in Chapter 11, chronic sleep loss can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM; Brian?on-Marjollet et al., 2015; Zuraikat et al., 2024), and diabetes has been known to damage vision (Shukla & Tripathy, 2023).

If we want to continue to use these amazing sensory organs to experience life to the fullest, we must take care of them. So, if you value your sight, you absolutely need to value your sleep.

NOTE

What you are reading is a small portion of a book I put together with Dr. Catherine Divingian. Most chapters were written by me, while other chapters were written by her. Some of the material was written by both of us.

I originally wanted to post the entire ebook at once, but given its size, I came to realize that is not practical. There are four main parts to this book, each with its corresponding chapter/s. Every day, I will post a chapter until the entire book has been fully posted into LinkedIn. The first day will be the book Title, Medical Disclaimer, Table of Contents, Preface, How to Use This Book, and Introduction. The next day forward will be all the Part intros and the chapters, one per day.

Most of the chapters are fairly short. No long stories. We make it a point to get to the point. This is deliberate. We wanted to keep the chapters short so you can make the most of the information without burning up too much of your time doing so. For busy professionals this is a good thing.

Anyone who wants a copy of the ebook—in its entirety—is free to DM me. We will be happy to send you a digital copy as our gift to you.

Rest well.

Darius Creed (& Dr. D)

SOURCES

Atrooz, F., & Salim, S. (2020). Sleep deprivation, oxidative stress and inflammation. Advances in Protein Chemistry and Structural Biology, 119, 309–336. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs .apcsb.2019.03.001

Brian?on-Marjollet, A., Weiszenstein, M., Henri, M., Thomas, A., Godin-Ribuot, D., & Polak, J. (2015). The impact of sleep disorders on glucose metabolism: Endocrine and molecular mechanisms. Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome, 7(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186 /s13098-015-0018-3

Cabrera, M. P., & Chihuailaf, R. H. (2011). Antioxidants and the integrity of ocular tissues. Veterinary Medicine International, 2011, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4061/2011/905153

Li, A., Zhang, X., Guo, Y., Wang, J., Hao, Y., Gu, Y., & Jie, Y. (2022). The association between dry eye and sleep disorders: The evidence and possible mechanisms.?Nature and Science of Sleep,?14, 2203–2212. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S378751

Li, S., Tang, L., Zhou, J., Anchouche, S., Li, D., Yang, Y., Liu, Z., Wu, J., Hu, J., Zhou, Y., Yin, J., Liu, Z., & Li, W. (2022). Sleep deprivation induces corneal epithelial progenitor cell over-expansion through disruption of redox homeostasis in the tear film. Stem Cell Reports, 17(5), 1105–1119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.03.017

Palagini, L., Bruno, R. M., Gemignani, A., Baglioni, C., Ghiadoni, L., & Riemann, D. (2013). Sleep loss and hypertension: A systematic review.?Current Pharmaceutical Design,?19(13), 2409–2419. https://doi.org/10.2174/1381612811319130009

Shukla, U. V., & Tripathy, K. (2022). Diabetic retinopathy. StatPearls Publishing.

Tsukikawa, M., & Stacey, A. W. (2020). A review of hypertensive retinopathy and chorioretinopathy.?Clinical Optometry,?12, 67–73. https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTO.S183492

Zuraikat, F. M., Laferrère, B., Cheng, B., Scaccia, S., Cui, Z., Aggarwal, B., Jeli?, S., & St‐Onge, M. (2024). Chronic insufficient sleep in women impairs insulin sensitivity independent of adiposity changes: Results of a randomized trial. Diabetes Care, 47(1), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc23-1156

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