CLAIMS OF LINK BETWEEN NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND SLEEP DISORDERS

CLAIMS OF LINK BETWEEN NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND SLEEP DISORDERS

Dateline April 10, 2006, ABC News carried an article headlined "Neuroscientist Finds Possible Explanation of Near-Death Experiences - Mysterious Phenomenon May Be Related to Sleep Disorder."

Dr. Kevin Nelson of the University of Kentucky is the author of this study. An official reply to this will be coming from Jeffrey Long, M.D. Until then, please know this. The questions asked of participants were extremely ambiguous, so much so as to miss the point of the study. The control group consisted of friends and colleagues of Nelson - not the type of people representative of the public at large. And, it was ABC News who claimed Dr. Nelson's study "explained" near-death experiences. Dr. Nelson made no such claim in his paper.

Because changes in sleep patterning and dream states occur with the majority of experiencers after their episode, and are part of the acknowledged aftereffects of the near-death phenomenon, this study by Dr. Nelson of possible sleep disorders as causal to near-death states is invalid. In order for Dr. Nelson's study to be applicable, he would have to have conducted before-and-after investigations to establish a proper baseline to even know what he is dealing with. To use the conclusions he offered or even suggest effect before cause violates scientific protocol.

The sensationalism caused by this study is entirely the result of ABC News and their failure to properly investigate the report as submitted to them. Apparently their staff was more interested in making headlines than in reporting news. ...PMH