Katharina Buczek
Dr. Kim and her team shockingly found that less than half of the participants slept in complete darkness for at least five hours. Moreover, the other participants were exposed to light during even the latest hours of the day.
The research team is still unsure if conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity are pushing people to sleep in illuminated environments or if the environmental state of light led to these conditions’ development.
Regardless, this study underscores how important maintaining the human body’s circadian rhythm is for ensuring overall good health.
Emerson Wickwire, the head of sleep medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, peer-reviewed this study and offered his conclusion.
“What these data show is that exposure to light at nighttime increases risks for two of the most common and costly chronic medical conditions in the U.S. and worldwide– obesity and diabetes– as well as hypertension, a major cardiovascular risk factor,” Wickwire said.
Moreover, he provided a few suggestions for how to “best sleep.”
First, separate your bedroom environment from your work or recreational environment. Your bedroom should be cool, quiet, dark, and only meant for sleeping.
Afterward, be sure to keep your lights off while trying to fall asleep. And if you cannot control light outside of your windows, you can use blackout shades or invest in an eye mask. Finally, if you are up for a bit of reorganization, you can also reposition your bed to ensure it does not face toward any incoming light.
For more information on how to get a good night’s sleep, you can visit the National Institute on Aging’s sleep resources linked here.
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