Before bed, close the blinds, draw the curtains, and turn off the lights. Exposure to even moderate ambient lighting during nighttime sleep, compared to sleeping in a dimly lit room, harms your cardiovascular function during sleep and increases yourinsulin resistance the following morning, according to a new study.
The results of the study show that exposure to moderate room lighting during sleep can impair cardiovascular regulation, which is a risk factor for heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Light exposure in the daytime increases heart rate by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system, which kicks your heart into high gear and heightens your alertness to meet the challenges of the day.
Our results show that exposure to light during sleep can have a similar effect.
The study will be published in PNAS.
Heart rate increases in light room.
When you sleep in a moderately lit room, your heart rate goes up. That is bad. Your heart rate is usually lower at night and higher during the day.
Our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems regulate our body temperature during the day and night. Sympathetic takes charge during the day and parasympathetic takes charge at night.
Light during sleep can cause diseases.
People slept in a light room that morning. When cells in your muscles, fat and liver don't respond well toinsulin and can't useglucose from your blood for energy, it's called Insulin resistance. Your pancreas makes moreinsulin to make up for it. Your blood sugar goes up over time.
A large group of healthy people were exposed to light during sleep in a previous study. They were more overweight.
There is a mechanism that may be fundamental to explain why this happens.
The participants in the study were unaware of the changes in their bodies at night.
The brain senses it like a person's sleep is fragmented. The sleep is not resting in the way it is supposed to.
Exposure to artificial light at night is common.
Exposure to artificial light at night is common in large urban areas, either from indoor light emitting devices or from sources outside the home. Up to 40% of individuals sleep with a lamp on or with a light on in the bedroom and/or keep the television on.
Light and its relationship to health are not always the same.
In addition to sleep, nutrition and exercise, light exposure during the daytime is an important factor for health, but during the night we show that even modest intensity of light can impair measures of heart and endocrine health.
The study compared the effect of sleeping with 100 lux and 3 lux on participants over a single night. The investigators found that moderate light exposure caused the body to go into a higher alert state. In this state, the heart rate increases as well as the force with which the heart contracts and the rate of how fast the blood is conducted to your blood vessels for oxygenated blood flow.
The findings are important for those living in modern societies where exposure to indoor and outdoor nighttime light is more widespread.
Reducing light during sleep is one of the top tips given by Zee.
The lights should not be turned on. If you need a light that is close to the floor, make it a dim light.
The color is important. The brain is less stimulated by amber or red light. White or blue light should be kept far away from the sleeping person.
If you can't control the outdoor light, you should use eye masks. Move your bed so the light doesn't shine on your face.
Is my room dark?
If you can see things well, it is probably too light.
Ivy Mason is a research fellow at Harvard Medical School and one of the co-first authors of the study.
The research was supported by grants from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Institute of Aging.
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The materials are provided by the university. The original was written by Marla Paul. Content can be edited for style and length.
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