Exposure to light during nighttime sleep may lead to potentially harmful changes in the structure and function of the heart, according to a study published Wednesday in the European Heart Journal.Previous research had shown a link between nighttime sleep while exposed to light and an elevated risk of coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure and stroke.The new study is the first to examine how it also affects the structure and function of the heart.Changes to the heart — known as remodeling — can help explain the elevated risk for heart problems associated with too much nighttime light, said lead researcher Dr.
Lu Qi, of Tulane University’s Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine.“The takeaway is clear: darkness deserves recognition as a vital sign, as essential to cardiovascular health as blood pressure control and clean air,” Dr.Thomas Münzel, an environmental cardiologist at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, and colleagues wrote in an accompanying editorial.The researchers analyzed data from 11,071 participants enrolled in the UK Biobank, a massive database that began recruiting participants in 2005 and collects data about demographics, health and lifestyle.
The people in the study wore a light and motion sensor on their wrist for seven days, and a few years later, were given an MRI of the heart.They did not have cardiovascular disease starting out.Add to GoogleHow to Reset Your Routine, Including Your Sleep, for Fall04:36The researchers compared people who were exposed to almost no nighttime light during sleep to people who were exposed to at least 3 lux — lux is a measurement of illumination — which would still be a very dim room, said Kristen Knutson, an associate professor of sleep medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine who has no connection to the study.
Your closed eyes, however, would be able to detect the light, she sa...