Artificial light at night causes health issues: AU research
PRAYAGRAJ: Claiming that living in continuous artificial light causes damage to many important functions of human body, a team of scientists under prof SI Rizvi of biochemistry department at Allahabad University (AU) is busy studying the ill-effects of ‘ALAN’ or “Artificial Light at Night” on human physiology.
In a breakthrough research paper published this month in the international journal Chronobiology International (USA), the research group has shown that artificial light at night impacts several important parameters of human physiology which may lead to complications later in life.
The research group has also provided experimental proof that supplementation of a hormone called melatonin may help reverse the adverse changes caused by ALAN. Prof Rizvi said evolution made humans adapt to live in cycles of light and dark based on rhythmic changes of day and night.
“All our functions are dictated by this circadian rhythm. It is only in the last few decades that humans have devised technology which makes availability of light through artificial means. The present-day humans are not dependent on daylight and spend most of their time in artificial light,” he said.
According to the research, the hormone melatonin is secreted from a gland in the brain called the pineal gland. The secretion of melatonin only occurs during dark periods. Melatonin has very important functions in human body.
“Artificial light during night affects the functioning of the pineal gland and stops the secretion of melatonin,” claimed prof Rizvi.
The research of Allahabad University scientists found that continuous light caused several significant changes in the brain. The genes which regulate redox changes, brain cell death and inflammation (swelling of neurons of the brain) were affected due to disruption in circadian cycle after exposure to continuous light.
The research which was carried on experimental rats found that melatonin supplementation reversed those alterations, he said.
The research of prof Rizvi and his team is important because most people have become used to checking mobile phones even during night. “The light emitted by mobile phone is enough to cause disruption in melatonin secretion,” he claimed.
The research has also provided experimental proof that the effect of ‘artificial light at night’ is more pronounced in old age compared to young individuals.
The present research highlights the possible therapeutic role of melatonin in disorders which involve brain dysfunction. Further research is under way at prof Rizvi’s laboratory.
Doctors also fully agree with findings of the research. “Artificial light is composed of visible light as well as some ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) radiations, and there is increasing concern that the emission levels of some lamps and devices could be harmful for skin and eyes.
Artificial light at night is also believed to affect human health with increasing risks of obesity, depression, sleep disorders, diabetes, breast cancer and more,” said a Sangam city physician Dr D Samanta.