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Many articles on the internet write about melatonin and its effects, making you tired. A lot of articles also point out how the use of devices before going to bed in modern days likely decrease melatonin production. Therefore, making it harder to fall asleep. But this information is only about the process of getting to sleep, before we are actually sleeping.

A recent Harvard Medical article 1 states:

High exposure to bright, artificial outdoor lights during the night may result in sleepless nights for older adults.

Referring to a publication on Nov. 15, 2018, in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Considering that:

  1. many people nowadays, use their mobile devices in bed prior to going to sleep;
  2. modern cities or houses have (street) lights that are always enabled at night;
  3. ignoring the phase of falling sleep;
  4. focusing only on the time we are asleep already, so during the actual sleep cycles.

Does a darker room with less or no (artificial) light pollution improve sleep quality, with all associated health benefits as a result? In other words: Does light pollution, while asleep decrease the sleep quality or does light pollution only negatively affect the phase of “falling asleep”?

I wasn't able to find any studies or information regarding sleep quality in relation to light pollution during sleep. Were such studies performed? Are there specific moments when light pollution affects sleep quality the most, for example during REM-sleep or in a specific sleeping phase?

1 https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/study-light-pollution-may-trigger-insomnia

Bob Ortiz
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    Interesting question. Have you done any research on it? What did you find? – Carey Gregory Sep 03 '19 at 03:54
  • On IPhones there is something called Night Shift mode, it filters out blue light, so this filter is better than nothing at night, and obviously turn the lights out in the room. You can see a more complete explanation in this article. https://selfhacked.com/blog/melatonin/ – Gordon Sep 03 '19 at 12:23
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    If an older person is in a hospital or nursing home then they may not have control of the surrounding light, though the blinds, curtains are usually drawn at night. So their environment may not darken after 8pm, there is a certain amount of light at night in the hallways and the rooms in these institutions. – Gordon Sep 03 '19 at 12:53
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    Here is an interesting article: Artificial Light during sleep. Linked to Obesity, NIH. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/artificial-light-during-sleep-linked-obesity I once read a book by a sleep specialist that we should begin to wind down after 8pm, darken the lights a bit etc. so our day should be day, and our nights real nights. But again with older people there is a risk of falling at night on the way to the bathroom and breaking a hip, so they may at least need small night lights. – Gordon Sep 03 '19 at 13:22
  • @Gordon - regarding iPhones and their "night shift mode", I use android and the Samsung Galaxy S8 and upward give a blue light filter mode too. I can't remember if the S6 or S7 do, but maybe now if not before with the updates that have come out over the years. I am not sure it is good for the eyes to use a phone without lights on though, blue light filtered or not. I may be wrong. – Chris Rogers Sep 03 '19 at 13:59
  • @ChrisRogers this is true. But my next question will be about the effectiveness of blue light filters such as the ones you mentioned ;). This is specifically about any light pollution and its effects on sleep while already asleep. – Bob Ortiz Sep 03 '19 at 14:35
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    @Gordon That constant light is believed to be part of why we see a dramatic increase in delirium for elderly patients in the hospital. We have protocols to sit them by windows during the day to improve their circadian rhythm within the relative darkness at night. – DoctorWhom Sep 04 '19 at 22:41
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    Eyelids do not block 100% of photons. The suprachiasmatic nucleus reacts to even little bits of light. Can't do a lit review at the moment, but that's where to find the answers – DoctorWhom Sep 04 '19 at 22:51

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