The British newspaper DailyMail points to extensive research by Chinese scientists. This suggests that people who sleep with their curtains open increase their risk of stroke or heart attack by as much as 40 percent.
Risk factor
About eighty percent of the world’s population lives in a light-polluted area, which means that the brightness of the nighttime environment is illuminated by artificial light. Think of lampposts, luminous billboards and headlights of passing cars.
The researchers suspect that such light suppresses the processing of the hormone melatonin in our body. This can lead to sleep problems. It can also result in increased blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Both are triggers for the occurrence of certain conditions, such as strokes and heart attacks.
The study followed 28,300 people from the Chinese city of Ningbo for six years. A condition was diagnosed in 1,278 of them during that time, of which 900 were strokes. Many appeared to be indeed exposed to a relatively large amount of artificial light at night.
Advice
“That is why we advise people, especially if they live in urban areas, to reduce their exposure to artificial light during their night’s sleep,” explains one of the researchers. Closing your curtains or wearing a sleeping mask can therefore significantly reduce the risk of harmful consequences.
Sleep coach Mark Schadenberg explains how much sleep adults need per night:
Source: DailyMail
Tags: sleep curtains open greater risk cardiovascular disease
