[stylist] off-topic, circadian cycles

[Chris Kuell]

Peter,

Sorry to be blunt, but in this case you are wrong.
The scientific link between melatonin production in humans and animals and 
ultraviolet light entering the eyes was not performed on blind people, but 
on sighted people, and perhaps more cruelly, on animals. There is ample, 
reproducible, scientific proof that if you take a sighted person or animal, 
stick them in a dark room for several days, their melatonin production will 
be diminished.

Perhaps what you are thinking of is a recent study for sleep aids which was 
performed on volunteer blind people by a pharmaceutical company. I can't 
comment on the study as I wasn't a part of it, but I imagine they wanted 
totally blind subjects because we are known to have melatonin deficiency. 
Obviously, if the study was to have any accuracy, study patients would have 
to be screened for other complicating factors.

I know the banquet speech you are referring to, and I agree that study was 
bogus. It was not only offensive to blind people, but did the entire 
scientific community a disservice. Because of studies like it, average 
Americans are increasingly becoming cynical about science. Science which has 
raised the average lifespan of Americans nearly 30 years in the last 
century. Science that has cured a multitude of diseases and made many more 
manageable when they used to be fatal. Science that told us cigarettes were 
fatal long before the tobacco companies told us not to believe the 
scientists. Science that put men on the moon, allowed us to explore the 
ocean depths, and helped a blind man to drive a car.

Skepticism is good, but don't doubt all science.

chris