If you are like most people, you
spend some time at night using your smartphone before bed. Just a final
check-up on how friends are doing, a game of Candy Crush, to see any
interesting thing on Facebook, Instagram and a quick look at tomorrow’s weather
seems perfectly safe and normal. However, as smartphone use increases, so does
the research, and it is not looking good for our bodies.
The moment you switch off the light
and get to your bed at night, you tend to open your mobile phone. The blue
light that the mobile phone emits is sharp during the night. It not just
affects your vision but it affects the production of melatonin hormone. This is
the hormone that helps one to sleep. Hence, when the sleep gets affected it
gives rise to a host of related health problems.
Here are 6 reasons why you NEED to stop using Smartphones at night.
1. It can damage your eyes
There is some evidence
that blue light can damage our vision by harming the retina over time and
causing macular degeneration (the loss of central vision, or the inability to
see what is right in front of you).
Artificial blue light is one of the shortest, highest
energy wavelengths in the visible light spectrum. Because they are shorter, the
wavelengths flicker more easily, which creates a glare that can reduce visual
contrast and affect sharpness and clarity. This is often the case for why
people experience digital eyestrain and suffers from symptoms like blurry
vision, difficulty focusing, dry and irritated eyes, headaches, neck and back
pain, after a day’s work at the computer.
Since quitting using my phone at night, my mystery
morning eye strain that would often last into the afternoon went away. It felt
like I hadn’t slept at all, but really, it was just the effects that the blue
light had on my eyes.
2. Loss of sleep.
The
blue light emitted by the mobile phones affects the production of melatonin.
Melatonin is one of the hormones that helps one to sleep and regulates the
sleep cycle. Regular use of mobile phone at night before going to sleep can
lead to sleep loss and other health issues like depression as well.
3. Higher
risk of Cancer.
In 2011, The World
Health Association ruled that cell phones could be carcinogenic to humans since
they emit electromagnetic radiation that has been linked to certain types of
cancer. While the cancer risk of cell phones is still being studied, prolonged
exposure to blue light and its affect on the sleep cycle has been shown to
increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer.
The risks of
exposure to cell phone radiation also increase when you hold your cell phone
close to your body. Since lying in bed often means that the cell phone is next
to your head, you could be placing yourself at risk for brain cancer as well.
4.
Depression.
The
side effects of disrupted sleep go far beyond just physical health problems.
When blue light disrupts your hormones and sleep patterns, you also become vulnerable to
feelings of depression.
Additionally, low
energy levels during the day, combined with foggy thinking because of sleep
deprivation, can make you feel as though it’s just not worth getting out of
bed. Chronic sleep disruptions also lead your body to experience a neurotoxin
buildup that can have long-term effects on your mood and ability to get a good
night’s rest.
5.
Affects the brain.
When
your sleep gets affected, when you are exposed to too much of light emitted by
the mobile phone, this further affects one's brain as well as the memory power
too. When a person is deprived of sleep it affects the body metabolism and the
blood flow in the brain gets affected.
6. Weight gain.
By
disrupting our melatonin production and sleep cycles, smartphone light
emissions at night can also mess with the hormones that control hunger,
increasing the risk of obesity. According to Dr. Siegel, lack of sleep can ruin
your insulin levels, which directly affects your body’s metabolism. If your
metabolism is messed up, then your weight will be, too.
How to Fix the Problem?
If you want to improve your sleep,
you can follow these steps. They essentially include shutting off your
electronics at least 1-2 hours before bed, and getting away from artificial
light by using red LED lights instead.
Unfortunately, being glued to your
screen before bedtime can be incredibly addicting and comforting in a sense.
Almost ritualistic to be honest. I remember when I used to check all the pages
that I followed in the wee hours of the night. Quitting had to be done cold
turkey. Once you realize the negative benefits being on the phone before bed
has on your health, you shouldn’t have any problem quitting
Sources:
Thehealthflash
Lovelifefruits
boldsky
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