Blue light therapy glasses show promise for Parkinson’s sleep
Study participants report sleep quality, daytime alertness improvements
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- Patients with Parkinson’s disease frequently experience debilitating sleep disturbances and excessive daytime sleepiness.
- Wearing blue light therapy glasses improved sleep quality and boosted daytime alertness, a study shows.
- Larger clinical trials are needed to confirm the long-term effectiveness of the therapy for managing Parkinson's sleep issues.
Blue light therapy delivered through Chrono Eyewear’s Propeaq glasses may help people with Parkinson’s disease sleep better and feel less sleepy during the day, a small study shows.
After two weeks, those using blue light glasses reported greater improvements in sleep quality and daytime alertness, as well as a reduction in depressive symptoms, compared with participants who wore red light glasses.
“Blue light therapy, delivered through dedicated light therapy glasses, may be an accessible and user-friendly intervention for people with Parkinson’s,” Daniel van Wamelen, PhD, associate professor at King’s College London, who participated in the research, said in a press release. “The combined effect of improved sleep quality and reduction in daytime sleepiness, as well as possible improvement of symptoms such as depression, make this a particularly exciting intervention.”
The results “Blue light therapy delivered through light glasses improves sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in Parkinson’s disease: A randomized trial,” were published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.
Previous study reported sleep quality improvements
Sleep disturbances are common in people with Parkinson’s and can occur at any stage of the disease. These may include difficulty falling or staying asleep, frequent nighttime awakenings, excessive daytime sleepiness, and changes in normal sleep patterns.
Poor sleep can contribute to daytime fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and reduced quality of life. Because sleep disturbances can have several causes, identifying and treating them is an important part of managing Parkinson’s beyond its movement-related symptoms.
AÂ previous study conducted in 2019 at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands evaluated the effects of blue light therapy with Propeaq glasses, which deliver blue light through a series of LED lights built into the frame.
Among 31 individuals with Parkinson’s who used the glasses for at least one week, usually twice daily for 30 to 60 minutes each time, 74% reported improvements in sleep quality and motor function, and reductions in daytime sleepiness and depressive symptoms.
Participants receiving blue light therapy had lower levels of depression
In this new study, researchers at Radboud University and King’s College London in the U.K. conducted a small clinical trial in 3o people with Parkinson’s. Participants were randomly assigned to wear either Propeaq or glasses delivering red light therapy for one-hour periods twice daily for two weeks.
The glasses were generally easy to use, with most participants quickly learning how to operate them independently. Overall, participants responded positively to the device, and no major side effects were reported during the study.
A higher proportion of participants wearing Propeaq reported their sleep quality had much (53.3% vs. 20%) or very much improved (40% vs. 0%) after five weeks, compared with the red light glasses group.
Participants who used blue light also experienced a significant reduction in daytime sleepiness, with the proportion reporting daytime sleepiness falling from 50% at the start of the study to 6.7% following blue light therapy. No changes were observed in the red light glasses group.
It’s encouraging to see that blue light therapy may have potential to help people with Parkinson’s sleep better and feel less sleepy during the day.
Those who received blue light therapy had significantly lower levels of depression after two weeks, as assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a self-reported questionnaire. There was a trend towards lower depression levels after five weeks, but the results were not statistically significant.
Both groups showed a significant improvement in Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part 4 scores, which measure movement-related complications of Parkinson’s. However, there were no significant changes in UPDRS parts 1 to 3, which assess nonmotor and motor experiences of daily living and motor signs of the disease.
“It’s encouraging to see that blue light therapy may have potential to help people with Parkinson’s sleep better and feel less sleepy during the day,” said Emma Rodgers, research communications manager at Parkinson’s UK. “As the therapy is delivered through wearable glasses, it may be a very practical way for people to manage difficulties with their sleep.”
However, Rodgers noted that the study was small and that participants were already users of Propeaq glasses, which may have influenced the results.
“We need to see bigger future studies to understand how blue light therapy may support sleep difficulties in Parkinson’s,” she added.
Natalie Henry
Can we get access to these glasses?