Jan

17

Why Scientists Are Linking More Diseases to Light at Night

Glaring headlights, illuminated buildings, blazing billboards, and streetlights fill our urban skies with a glow that even affects rural residents. Inside, since the invention of the light bulb, we’ve kept our homes bright at night. Now, we’ve also added blue light-emitting devices — smartphones, television screens, tablets — which have been linked to sleep problems. But outdoor light may matter for our health, too. “Every photon counts,” Hanifin said.

For one 2024 study, researchers used satellite data to measure light pollution at residential addresses of over 13,000 people. They found that those who lived in places with the brightest skies at night had a 31% higher risk of high blood pressure. Another study out of Hong Kong showed a 29% higher risk of death from coronary heart disease. And yet another found a 17% higher risk of cerebrovascular disease, such as strokes or brain aneurysms.

Nils Poertner comments:

Sleeping in a fully light-blacked-out room is indeed relaxing for the optic nerve and the brain.
That is why expensive hotels have proper curtains and cheap ones often don't. We can't change society but we can make individual adjustments (or at least at home).


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