Stop, Drop, and Sleep!

Don’t worry, there’s no fire. But please do kindly put down your phones and stay away from them before going to bed.

Staying away from artificial lights at night time will help you sleep better. (Source: MeditationMusic.net)

According to an article published on Daily Mail, a study conducted at the Harvard Medical School suggests that artificial lights emitted from cell phone screens consequently affect the circadian rhythm, or “natural body clock”, of individuals, preventing them from having proper sleeping patterns. A lack of sleep has been linked to increased risks of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression and stroke, as well as concentration problems, but this can be easily fixed by simply avoiding exposure to these artificial lights.

Cell phones emit artificial lights. (Source: Flickr – melinamanfrinatti)

From watching T.V. to using the computer to texting friends, technology has seemingly become a necessity. Surprisingly, it is these everyday activities that are contributing to drastic declines in the number of hours being slept and thus, are raising health concerns in the population. Teenagers and adults often have a habit of checking their phones at night before going to sleep, tricking the brain in thinking it is still day time. As a result, the release of hormone melatonin by the brain is inhibited. Instead, the brain enhances the alertness of the individual.

So what is the circadian rhythm? It is a 24-hour cycle which regulates the times of when an individual’s body should sleep, wake up, and conduct physiological processes. Every person’s circadian rhythm is different, depending on his/her activities. For example, if he/she has a habit of staying up late, his/her circadian rhythm will tweak the sleeping hours to adapt and become synonymous with those hours. At the same time, the release of melatonin will also be pushed back to allow the person to feel more awake and alert during those hours at night time.

An overview on the circadian rhythm

Similarly, due to an adjustment in the clock, as received from stimuli relayed by the brain, when a person stares at the screen-lit phone or any other electronics emitting light, the regular sleeping hours will be delayed. Previous data from studies indicate that around fifty years ago, the population did not ever experience this drop in number of hours of sleep obtained. Due to the development of technology and artificial lights, and with people attaining more electronics at younger ages, our population has been sleeping fewer and fewer hours each night. It is no surprise that people will then resort to drinking coffee to keep themselves awake. However, caffeine will also have an effect on the time taken to fall asleep.

What can be done about this problem? Simple. Stay away from your phones and electronics before bedtime to ensure that you get your optimal beauty sleep. However, if you are still suffering from sleeping well, despite not being exposed to artificial lights, there are other tips and tricks to help you with that.

Original article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2329068/Terrible-nights-sleep-Blame-mobile-phone-How-exposure-artificial-light-fools-brain-staying-awake.html

-Miranda Tuet