Smartphones are associated with a significantly higher incidence of illness with nightlights and TVs on, findings-ScienceDaily

Exposure was measured with a wrist-worn device and followed for 7 days.

This is a real-world (non-) study demonstrating the prevalence of nighttime light exposure associated with obesity, hypertension (known as hypertension), and increased diabetes in the elderly. It will be published in the journal on June 22nd. sleepy..

“Whether it’s from a smartphone, leaving the TV overnight, or light pollution in a big city, we live in an abundance of artificial light sources available 24 hours a day,” said the research author. Dr. Minsey said. Kim, an assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University School of Medicine, and a physician in Northwestern Medicine. “Elderly people are already at high risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, so we wanted to see if there was a difference in the frequency of these diseases associated with nighttime light exposure.”

Researchers were surprised to find that less than half of the 552 study participants consistently had 5 hours of total darkness per day. The rest of the participants were exposed to some light, even during the darkest five hours of the day, usually in the middle of the night’s sleep.

Because this was a cross-sectional study, researchers do not know whether obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure put people to sleep with the lights on, or whether the lights contributed to the development of these conditions. People in these conditions are more likely to use the bathroom at midnight (the lights are on), or there may be another reason to keep the lights on. People with numbness in their feet due to diabetes may want to keep the nightlight on to reduce the risk of falls.

“It’s important for people to avoid or minimize exposure to light during sleep,” said Dr. Phyllis Zee, Phyllis Zee, Phyllis Zee, head of sleep medicine and Northwestern medicine co-author of senior research. Says.

Zee et al. Are investigating intervention studies to test whether recovery of the natural light-dark cycle improves cognitive and other health outcomes.

Zee provided tips for reducing light during sleep.

1. Please do not turn on the light. If you need to turn on the light (elderly people may need it for safety), make it a dim light near the floor.
2. Color is important. Amber or red / orange light is less irritating to the brain. Do not use white or blue light and keep away from sleeping people.
3. If you can’t control the outdoor lighting, a shading shade or eye mask is a good choice. Move the bed so that the outdoor light does not hit your face.

Who are the research participants?

Research participants initially participated in the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project (CHA), a public health program and epidemiological study conducted between 1967 and 1973 to identify adults at high risk of heart disease in workplaces throughout the Chicago region. It was registered. This study included a detailed investigation of known risk factors for heart disease.

Almost 40 years later (2007-2010), Fineberg’s assistant professors of preventive medicine, Gee and Dr. Martha Davigles, conducted another study of 1,395 survivors of the original CHA study (“Chicago Health”). Aging Research (CHAS) ”) was conducted. I agreed to participate. They underwent another detailed examination of blood pressure, weight, height, cholesterol, glucose, and other known risk factors for heart disease. In addition, they wore an actigraph device on their non-dominant wrists for 7 days and wrote in their daily sleep diary. More than half of the actigraph devices used had the ability to measure the light that forms the basis of this new study.

Other Northwest authors include senior co-authors Catherine Reed, Tan Huen Vu, Matthew Mars, Rosemary Brown, and Michael Wolf.

The title of this study is “Night light in the elderly is associated with obesity, diabetes and hypertension.”

This study was supported by the National Institute of Cardiopulmonary Blood (Grants R01 HL089695, R01 HL090873, R01 HL021010), the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR001422), and the National Institute on Aging (P30AG059988). Health Research Institute.

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material Provided by Northwestern University.. Original written by Marla Paul. Note: Content can be edited in style and length.