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Sleeping while exposed to any type of light whatsoever — even dim light — is linked to an increase in the likelihood of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension (high blood pressure) in older adults, a study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago finds.
Corresponding author for the study, Dr. Minjee Kim, said: “Whether it be from one’s smartphone, leaving a TV on overnight, or light pollution in a big city, we live among an abundant number amount of artificial sources of light that are available 24 hours of a day.”
“In the current study, we measured light exposure and sleep in older adults (ages 63-84) for seven days using a wrist-worn device. Instead of bringing these older adults to the sleep lab, we collected data in their routine environments,” said Dr. Kim.
They found that less than half of these older adults slept in a pitch-black room for at least five hours.
“We were frankly surprised to find out that more than half of the older adults were sleeping with some light at night,“ Dr. Kim said. “Adults who slept with some light during their sleep period were generally exposed to dim light.”
The researchers found that the likelihood of developing high blood pressure (hypertension) was increased by 74%, obesity by 82%, and diabetes by 100%. Participants were also tested for an increased risk of hypercholesterolemia, but no difference was observed.
