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Light from smart devices 'affecting sleep' | Perth Now
LIKE a lot of Americans, Amalie Drury has grown very attached to her smartphone.
The 33-year-old Chicago writer checks the device multiple times a day for Facebook updates and email messages. She brings it into the bathroom when she brushes her teeth. And she often totes it to bed, "just to check email one more time and play a few more rounds of Words With Friends".
If Drury wakes up in the middle of the night, she reaches for her phone again. "My first thought is to pick up the iPhone to see what's happening in the news," she said. "I'll ... sometimes read long features and not really be able to go back to sleep."
Drury's "terrible habits", as she calls them, reflect those of millions who bring their phones, tablets, e-readers and laptops to bed each night, according to consumer research. The trend is causing increasing concern in the medical community based on mounting evidence that the type of light produced by our portable electronic screens can contribute to sleep loss.
Last month, the American Medical Association (AMA) issued a policy recognising "that exposure to excessive light at night, including extended use of various electronic media, can disrupt sleep or exacerbate sleep disorders, especially in children and adolescents".
Any light at night can be disruptive, researchers say, but in recent years studies have zeroed in on the particularly potent "blue light" emitted abundantly from the energy-efficient screens of smartphones and computers as well as many energy-saving fluorescent bulbs.
LIKE a lot of Americans, Amalie Drury has grown very attached to her smartphone.
The 33-year-old Chicago writer checks the device multiple times a day for Facebook updates and email messages. She brings it into the bathroom when she brushes her teeth. And she often totes it to bed, "just to check email one more time and play a few more rounds of Words With Friends".
If Drury wakes up in the middle of the night, she reaches for her phone again. "My first thought is to pick up the iPhone to see what's happening in the news," she said. "I'll ... sometimes read long features and not really be able to go back to sleep."
Drury's "terrible habits", as she calls them, reflect those of millions who bring their phones, tablets, e-readers and laptops to bed each night, according to consumer research. The trend is causing increasing concern in the medical community based on mounting evidence that the type of light produced by our portable electronic screens can contribute to sleep loss.
Last month, the American Medical Association (AMA) issued a policy recognising "that exposure to excessive light at night, including extended use of various electronic media, can disrupt sleep or exacerbate sleep disorders, especially in children and adolescents".
Any light at night can be disruptive, researchers say, but in recent years studies have zeroed in on the particularly potent "blue light" emitted abundantly from the energy-efficient screens of smartphones and computers as well as many energy-saving fluorescent bulbs.
