Dim lights before bed to reduce risk of gestational diabetes: Study | Health

In a multisite study, women who developed gestational diabetes were exposed to more light for three hours before falling asleep. There was no difference in the level of daily light exposure.

“Our research suggests that light exposure before bed may be an unrecognized but easily modifiable Risk factor It can cause gestational diabetes,” said lead study author Minzy Kim, Ph.D., an assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medical Neurologist.

Also read: Health Benefits of Adding Green Jackfruit Powder to Diabetic Diets

Increasing evidence suggests that exposure to nighttime light before bedtime may be associated with impaired glucose regulation in nonpregnant adults. Little is known about the effect of exposure to gestational diabetes on the risk of developing gestational diabetes. health effects Both mother and child.

This is believed to be one of the first multisite studies to examine the risk of pre-sleep light exposure for developing gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes is on the rise in the United States and worldwide. About 4.5% of first-time pregnant women with babies born between 2011 and her 2013 will develop gestational diabetes, an average increase of 3.4% over her three-year period to 2019. The gestational diabetes rate in 2020 was 7.8.Percentage of All Births in the United States

“This is alarming. Gestational diabetes is known to increase obstetric complications and increase the risk of maternal diabetes, heart disease and dementia. more likely to become.”

Data show that women with gestational diabetes are almost 10 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to women who don’t have glucose problems during pregnancy.

Bright light exposure before bed can come from bright lights in your home or from devices such as TVs, computers, and smartphones.

“We don’t think about the potential harm of keeping the environment bright from the moment we wake up until we go to bed.” “

Scientists don’t know which bright light sources are causing the problem, but everything could add up, Kim said.

“Try to reduce ambient light for three hours before bed,” says Kim, adding, “It’s best not to use computers or phones during this period. But if you must use them, Keep your screen as dark as possible,” Kim said, suggesting using the nightlight option to turn off the blue light.

If a pregnant woman develops gestational diabetes during her first pregnancy, she is more likely to have gestational diabetes in subsequent pregnancies.

Light exposure before bedtime can affect glucose metabolism through sympathetic overactivity. “The fight-or-flight response seems to be inappropriately activated when it’s time to rest,” Kim said.

Data show that sympathetic overactivity can lead to cardiometabolic disease, a constellation of conditions that lead to cardiovascular disease, including abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, elevated blood pressure, and lipid imbalance.

A Phase 2 study of 741 women was conducted at eight US clinical sites between 2011 and 2013. Participants’ light exposure was measured by a wrist-worn actigraph. Women were measured in the second trimester of pregnancy undergoing routine screening for gestational diabetes.

Pre-sleep light exposure, even after adjusting individually for age, BMI, race/ethnicity, education, commercial insurance, employment schedule, season, sleep duration, sleep midpoint, sleep regularity index, and daytime light exposure was still significantly associated with gestational diabetes.

Part of the rising rate of gestational diabetes is due to rising BMI and aging during pregnancy.

“But even after adjusting for BMI and age, gestational diabetes is still rising,” Kim added, adding, “While there is a lot to prove, my personal concern is that most people It’s possible that the Light may be quietly contributing to this problem without us even realizing it… Harm.”

Weight loss and exercise also reduce the risk of developing gestational diabetes. This is important, but requires some effort.

“Turning out the lights is an easy change,” said Kim.

“Now I’m the light police at home,” Kim said. “I see a lot of lights that I never thought of before. I try to keep it as dark as possible. If it’s just nighttime activities like dinner or bathing the kids, I don’t need bright lights.”

“This study highlights the importance of reducing light exposure in the hours before bed,” said senior author Kathryn Reed, a research professor of neurology at Feinberg.

The title of the paper was “Relationship between light exposure before bedtime during pregnancy and the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus.”

This article is published from the news agency’s feed with no text changes.