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Sleeping
in Darkness May Just Save Your Life
New research shows that artificial light at night can be a cancer
risk for women.
Sleeping with the light on could cause breast cancer, a recent
study suggests. The research confirms many studies suggesting
that artificial light at night causes the disease by interfering
with sleep cycles.
Mystery
of high cancer rates solved?
The National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences conducted the research and say that it may answer
the mystery of why levels of breast cancer are higher in advanced
and wealthy nations, which are five times as high as in the
third world.
About half of all breast cancer is believed to be caused by
family history, smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, medicines,
childlessness and giving birth late in life. The rest of the
cases, evidence increasingly suggests, may be due to electric
light during the hours of darkness.
Many studies have shown that those women who work the graveyard
shift, such as nurses or flight attendants, are up to 60 percent
more likely to get breast cancer. Another found that those who
stayed up late several times a week are also much more likely
to get the disease. In addition, blind women are half as likely
to get breast cancer.
Experts believe that because humans evolved without electric
light over thousands of generations, the body is not designed
to be exposed to light 24-7 and be alert and awake during the
night.
Hormone of darkness disrupted
Studies show that the human body receiving light at night disrupts
the healthy production of one of the body's greatest natural
cancer defenses: Melatonin. It is called the "hormone of
darkness" because it is released by the pineal gland at
night in the early hours of the morning. It stops the cancer
growth and boosts the body's immune system. Light, however,
interferes with its production, and tricks the body into thinking
it's day instead of night.
Recommendations
What experts recommend to protect yourself from breast cancer
risk:
- Sleep
in a totally dark room. Sleeping in the dark is crucial
in making melatonin, a natural defense against cancer.
- Get
plenty of sleep: One study showed that women who slept nine
hours a night were one-third as likely to get breast cancer
as those who slept seven or eight hours a night.
- Expose
yourself to morning sunlight: Studies suggest that getting
10-15 minutes of morning sunlight will keep the brain's
clock on time, allowing you to sleep better at night.
More
information
National
Institues of Health article
Washington
Post article
US
News and World Report article
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