A recent study in Japan showed a strong association between low-level light exposure at night and depressive symptoms in elderly adults. Lighting up our homes in the evenings can also clinically darken our moods. To lower our risk for getting cancer, it’s important to get a good night’s rest – and a dark room is the best way to guarantee we get those zzz’s. The rats who received melatonin avoided getting cancer, while the other rats did not. Half also received injections of melatonin. Stevens, cancer epidemiologist and professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center, injected lab rats with breast cancer-causing agents.
Melatonin and cortisol, hormones produced at night, can even play important roles in fighting off cancer. In fact, research has shown that it can lead to all sorts of issues, from irritability to memory impairment, illness and disease. The result? It’s harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. When we expose ourselves to bright light during that time, it throws our clocks out of whack and stops the much-needed melatonin from being produced.
As nighttime approaches, our bodies naturally produce higher levels of melatonin. Melatonin is a crucial part of our internal biological clock, or to use the scientific term, the circadian rhythm. To understand the relationship between light and sleep, let’s start by getting to know melatonin – a powerful hormone that helps us fall asleep. Sounds like it’s time to come to the dark side – at least after the sun sets.
Here’s an illuminating fact: the negative effects of using LED and blue lights at night can be both mental and physical, and they far outweigh any perceived benefits. But all that light isn’t always positive – particularly at night. Streetlights to guide us, warning lights to alert us, floodlights to protect us. Modern society has brought a lot of light into our lives.
0 kommentar(er)
