[NTD, Beijing, June 29, 2022]A new study finds that even dim light in a bedroom can disruptsleepand at the same time pose a higher risk to the health of the elderly, leading todiabetes、obesitydisease orhypertensionrisks of.
Senior Writer, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, ChicagosleepPhyllis Zee, medical director, told CNN: “Exposure to any amount of visible light during sleep may increase the risk ofdiabetes、obesitySymptomshypertensionmorbidity. “
“People should do their best to avoid exposure to visible light during sleep,” she added.
Ms. Ze and her team published the results of a study earlier this year in which they examined the effect of light on sleep in healthy adults in their 20s. In sleep lab experiments, just one night’s sleep in dim light, such as a TV with the sound off, raised blood sugar and heart rate in young adults.
Previous research has shown that elevated nighttime heart rate is a risk factor for later heart disease and premature death, while higher blood sugar levels are a signal of insulin resistance, which can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes.
Ms Ze said although trial participants had their eyes closedsleep, but the dim light entering the eyelids still disturbs the sleep of young people. However, even this tiny amount of light can cause a loss of slow wave sleep and REM sleep, which mark the entry into deep sleep, where most cell turnover occurs, she said. Time.
Customer survey
The new study, published Wednesday (June 22) in the journal Sleep, focused on older adults who “are already at higher risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” and one of the study’s collaborators was Northwestern. Minjie Jin, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology at the University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
“We wanted to see if the incidence of these diseases was related to nighttime rates,” King said.sleeptime light. “
Instead of sending subjects to a sleep lab, the new study set up a real sleep environment. The researchers fitted 552 men and women between the ages of 63 and 84 with actigraphs, small electronic devices worn like watches that measure and record sleep cycles, average movement and light exposure .
“We actually measured the amount of light they were exposed to using sensors they carried and compared it to their daily activities over a 24-hour period when they were sleeping and waking up during the day,” Ms Ze said.
“I think what makes our study different from the past is that we got really ‘objective’ data with this test method,” she said.
Ms Ze and her team said they were surprised to find that less than half of the men and women in the study managed to sleep in complete darkness for at least five hours a day.
“More than 53 percent of people had some light in the room at night,” she said. “In secondary analysis, we found that those who were exposed to stronger light at night were also the most likely to have diabetes, obesity or high blood pressure. blood pressure.”
In addition, Ms. Ze said, people who slept in brighter light were more likely to go to bed later and wake up later. “We know that late sleepers also tend to have a higher risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease.”
The solution
Ways to reduce light when sleeping at night include placing the bed away from windows or using blackout curtains. It’s best not to charge laptops and phones in the bedroom, as blue light that alters melatonin can also disrupt sleep. If dim light cannot be avoided, try using a sleep mask to cover your eyes.
Ms. Ze suggested that if you need to get up at night, keep the lights off if you can. If you really need to turn on the lights, try to keep the light source as dim as possible, and the shorter the time, the better.
Ms Ze said seniors often had to get up at night to go to the toilet due to health problems or side effects from medication, which could put them at risk of falls if all the lights were turned off. In this case, consider using a night light close to the ground and opt for an amber or red light. This light has longer wavelengths and is less disruptive and disruptive to our body clocks than shorter wavelengths such as blue light.
(Transfer from The Epoch Times/Editor-in-charge: Ye Ping)
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