Many of us bring our smartphones to bed, but this habit could be disrupting your sleep. The recent study has shown that the blue light emitted from smartphones and other screen devices can impact the duration and quality of sleep.
The study found that the participants used their phone on average for 38 hours during the one-month period. The quality of sleep deteriorated as the smartphone usage increased. The closer to bedtime the participants used their phones, the poorer their sleep was.
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Study senior author Dr. Gregory Marcus explained, “A substantial amount of our time is spent engaging with smartphones. These may have important health effects, including influencing fundamental needs, such as our ability to acquire and maintain a good night’s sleep.”
“These data [from the new study] suggest that reducing screen-time, particularly prior to bedtime, may help enhance the duration and quality of sleep. We cannot exclude the possibility that those with difficulty sleeping — for some reason unrelated to their smartphones — spend more time on their phone as a result, rather than a cause, of their inability to sleep,” Dr. Marcus added.
Getting a good night’s rest is imperative to overall good health. Poor sleep has been linked to negative health outcomes such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Therefore, a quick solution in improving health would be to avoid screen time close to sleeping hours.
Mohan Garikiparithi got his degree in medicine from Osmania University (University of Health Sciences). He practiced clinical medicine for over a decade before he shifted his focus to the field of health communications. During his active practice he served as the head of the Dept. of Microbiology in a diagnostic centre in India. On a three-year communications program in Germany, Mohan developed a keen interest in German Medicine (Homoeopathy), and other alternative systems of medicine. He now advocates treating different medical conditions without the use of traditional drugs. An ardent squash player, Mohan believes in the importance of fitness and wellness.
