Laptop, tablet use can disrupt sleep

Here's another reason not to use laptops or tablets at night: their bright screens could disrupt your sleep pattern and lead to health problems later on.

 

This was shown in a study by Mariana Figueiro of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and her team, Scientific American reported.

 

"(Figueiro and her team's study) showed that two hours of iPad use at maximum brightness was enough to suppress people's normal nighttime release of melatonin, a key hormone in the body's clock, or circadian system," it said.

 

Melatonin helps to make a person sleepy, but if it is delayed, a person could delay sleep.

 

But Figueiro said the telling effects of this phenomenon would be in the long run.

 

“(I)f you do that chronically, for many years, it can lead to disruption of the circadian system,” sometimes with serious health consequences, she said.

 

She suggested that laptop and tablet manufacturers “get creative” and make them more “circadian-friendly.”

 

They can even have the devices switch to white text on a black screen at night to minimize the light dose, she suggested.

 

Figueiro said the brightness and exposure time, as well as the wavelength, determine whether it affects melatonin.

 

She said light in the blue-and-white range as emitted by present-day tablets, laptops and desktop computers can disrupt sleep.

 

The team designed light-detector goggles and tested them on subjects, having them wear them when they use tablets in the late evening.

 

Scientific American said the measurements of light dose from the goggles correlated with hampered melatonin production.

 

But the study also found this screen time in the morning can have its benefits too - it can be used as light therapy for seasonal affective disorder and other light-based problems.

 

"Until then, do your sleep schedule a favor and turn down the brightness of your glowing screens before bed—or switch back to good old-fashioned books," Scientific American said. — TJD, GMA News