How you sleep can ‘increase your risk of killer disease’, experts warn
YOUR sleep environment could increase your risk of killer illnesses, experts have warned.
Turning off the light is vital for most people to nod off.
Now experts at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, US, say it could also protect you from heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
The new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that many people are exposed to artificial light during their sleep.
This could be from a lamp, a television or a traditional bulb.
The experts found that even using ambient lighting, rather than having the main light on, could up your risk of illness.
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Around 40 per cent of people sleep with some sort of light, whether that be a television or a lamp.
Study author Dr Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician said people should avoid or minimise light use during sleep.
She explained: "The results from this study demonstrate that just 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."
Heart and circulatory diseases cause a quarter of all deaths in the UK, as they can lead to strokes and heart failure.
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More than 4.9 million people in the UK have diabetes, with a further 13.6 million people also being at increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
If not monitored and treated correctly, diabetes can lead to other health issues such as heart disease, stroke, foot infections and vision loss.
The experts said having the light on when you're sleeping makes your heart rate increase, which in turn makes it harder for your body to rest properly.
They said that even though you are asleep, your autonomic nervous system is activated.
"That’s bad. Usually, your heart rate together with other cardiovascular parameters are lower at night and higher during the day", they said.
The 3 tips you need to reduce your risk of illness while you sleep
Dr Zee said there are three things you can do to reduce your risk of illness while you sleep.
Don't turn them on: Dr Zee said if you need to have a light on (which older adults may want for safety), make it a dim light that is closer to the floor.
Colour helps: She explained that colour is important. "Amber or a red/orange light is less stimulating for the brain. Don’t use white or blue light and keep it far away from the sleeping person", she said.
Blackout: If you can't control the light that comes in from outside, Dr Zee said you should get a blackout blind, or use an eye mask.
DIABETES RISK
The experts also found that light exposure during snooze time could also up your risk of diabetes.
When analysing participants, they found that insulin resistance occurred the morning after people slept in a light room.
Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, fat and liver don’t respond well to insulin and can’t use glucose from your blood for energy.
In order to put this right, your pancreas then makes more insulin, causing your blood sugar to go up over time.
To gather the results the experts exposed participants to both moderate and dim lighting over the course of one night.
They said that moderate exposure caused the participants to go into a state of high alert.
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Dr Zee added: “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.
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"These findings are important particularly for those living in modern societies where exposure to indoor and outdoor nighttime light is increasingly widespread".
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