Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness.

ABSTRACT: In the past 50 y, there has been a decline in average sleep duration and quality, with adverse consequences on general health. A representative survey of 1,508 American adults recently revealed that 90% of Americans used some type of electronics at least a few nights per week within 1 h before bedtime. Mounting evidence from countries around the world shows the negative impact of such technology use on sleep. This negative impact on sleep may be due to the short-wavelength-enriched light emitted by these electronic devices, given that artificial-light exposure has been shown experimentally to produce alerting effects, suppress melatonin, and phase-shift the biological clock. A few reports have shown that these devices suppress melatonin levels, but little is known about the effects on circ

SUBMITTER: Chang AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4313820 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature