Study participants report sleep quality, daytime alertness improvements
Written by Andrea Lobo | Oct. 6, 2026
- 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.
A 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.
Recent Comments