[stylist] off-topic, circadian cycles

[Peter Donahue]

Hello Chris and everyone,

    If the study was not performed on blind people it's dead on arrival! 
You're talking to someone whose life was rough due to the failure to 
properly diagnose a known sleep disorder for years. Many things happened in 
my life that can be traced directly to this unfortunate situation. I'm still 
haunted by flashbacks to situations in my past that had the sleep apnea been 
diagnosed sooner, prior to 2001 for example, these events would have a very 
different outcome hence all of this stuff is absolute rubbish! Insolently I 
see light but still have sleepless nights. Praise God for CPAP as I sleep 
much better than I once did thanks to the sleep apnea being properly 
diagnosed in 2002. I don't want to see other blind people have the same 
horrible life experiences I did prior to the sleep apnea being diagnosed.

Peter Donahue


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Kuell" <ckuell at comcast.net>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 10:56 AM
Subject: Re: [stylist] off-topic, circadian cycles


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



_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site:
http://www.nfb-writers-division.net <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>

stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/pdonahue2%40satx.rr.com