Until now, it was thought that sleep and fatigue problems in patients with Usher syndrome are the result of increased efforts to compensate for their limited vision combined with hearing loss. That idea is probably wrong, according to research by Radboud university medical center. The researchers collected data on health problems in 56 patients with Usher syndrome type 2A (USH2A) and 120 healthy controls. It showed that USH2A patients slept poorly more often than people in the control group. They more often had significantly reduced sleep quality, more sleep disorders and were more often sleepy and tired during the day. Remarkably, the severity of the sleep problems was not related to the severity of the visual impairment. These results are in line with the experiences of USH2A patients in which they report that sleep problems already existed before the visual impairment started.
Image: nikkimeel / Getty Images / iStock
According to the researchers, the results indicate that the sleep problems are an essential additional feature of USH2A and not a consequence of limited vision. They will further investigate this clue in an existing zebrafish model for Usher syndrome. Recognition of sleep problems as part of this syndrome may lead to health insurers reimbursing its treatment in USH2A patients, which is often not the case at the moment.
Bron:
Hendricks JM, Metz JR, Velde HM, et al. Evaluation of Sleep Quality and Fatigue in Patients with Usher Syndrome Type 2a. Ophthalmology Science. 2023;100323.
2023-10-03 13:07:50
#Sleep #problem #Usher #patient #essential #characteristic #MedNet
