Therapy approved for blind patients with sleep problems

Several news agencies have recently reported that the FDA has approved a therapy for a sleeping disorder that afflicts the blind. The Associated Pressreported that this was the first of its kind for the blind.

 Some patients have sleeping problems because they can’t detect light. According to the AP report, the FDA approved a drug called Hetlioz to help with that. The condition is called the "non-24-hour disorder," and potentially affects 100,000 people in the US, most of whom are blind.

 Bloomberg News reported that the FDA determined the drug "can improve the ability to sleep at night and to be active during the day."

MedPage Today reported that the most common side effects of Hetlioz are "headache, elevated liver enzymes, nightmares or unusual dreams, disturbed sleep, upper respiratory or urinary tract infection and drowsiness."

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