The Washington Post reports: Researchers at Northwestern University had two groups of 10 young adults sleep in differently lit rooms. One group slept in rooms with dim light for two nights; the other slept one night in a room with dim night and the next in a room with moderate overhead light — about the equivalent of an overcast day. Participants wore heart monitors at night. In the morning, they did a variety of glucose tests.
Both groups got the same amount of sleep, but their bodies were different. Both groups responded well when they slept in dim lighting. On the second night, the group sleeping in brighter lighting did not respond to insulin. On the second night, the dim light sleepers had a decrease in theirinsulin resistance scores. Their heart rates went up on the bright night.
"[J]ust a single night of exposure to moderate room lighting during sleep can impair glucose and cardiovascular regulation, which are risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome," concludes senior study author Dr. Phyllis Zee. "It's important for people to avoid or minimize the amount of light exposure during sleep."From Northwestern's announcement: There is already evidence that light exposure during daytime increases heart rate via activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which kicks your heart into high gear and heightens alertness to meet the challenges of the day. "Our results indicate that a similar effect is also present when exposure to light occurs during nighttime sleep," Zee said....
A large group of healthy people were exposed to light during sleep in a previous study. They were more overweight and obese. We show that it is affecting your ability to regulate your blood sugar.
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