Blue Blockers at Night and Insomnia Symptoms

Columbia University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Insomnia; Sleep

Treatments: Device: Blue blocking (BB) lenses; Device: Clear lenses

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02698800

AAAQ6404

Details and patient eligibility

About

Under entrained conditions, humans maintain a consolidated nocturnal sleep episode that coincides with environmental darkness and endogenous melatonin secretion. Various factors, such as artificial light, can compromise this temporal harmony, resulting in sleep disruption. Light is the strongest synchronizer of the circadian clock, with direct inputs via the retinohypothalamic tract to brain centers regulating sleep and circadian rhythms. Evening light exposure can suppress melatonin secretion and worsen sleep. This is critical, since most individuals routinely expose themselves to light before bedtime. The high sensitivity of the circadian system to blue wavelength light indicates that modern light sources such as light-emitting diodes (LED) may have particularly deleterious effects on sleep. It is possible to selectively filter out blue light while maintaining other visible spectra with blue-blocking (BB) lenses. Wearing BB lenses before bedtime may present a simple, affordable, and safe method to improve sleep. None have yet investigated the effects of BB lenses on subjective and objective sleep in insomnia patients, while simultaneously exploring the effects on melatonin secretion.

Full description

This study seeks to investigate the impact of BB lenses on melatonin and sleep in insomnia patients using a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study, with the aim of developing a novel non-pharmacological approach for the treatment of insomnia. 15 individuals with insomnia will wear either BB or placebo (clear) lenses for 2 hours preceding bedtime while at home, for 1 week in a cross-over design. Sleep quality will be documented while at home, at also melatonin secretion while in the laboratory. It is predicted that compared to placebo, wearing BB lenses for 2 hours preceding bedtime will attenuate bright light associated melatonin suppression and improve sleep.

Enrollment: 15 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Insomnia for at least 1 month based on Insomnia Symptoms Questionnaire

Exclusion criteria

• obstructive sleep apnea; narcolepsy; periodic leg movement disorder
• currently shift worker
• psychiatric or neurologic disorders
• deep vein thrombosis
• current cigarette smoker
• currently taking beta-blockers
• pregnant/breastfeeding
• children less than 1 year old at home
• excessive daily caffeine intake

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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15 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Blue blocking (BB)

Experimental group

Description:

Wearing of BB lenses.

Treatment:

Device: Blue blocking (BB) lenses

Clear

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Wearing of clear lenses

Treatment:

Device: Clear lenses