Insomnia: Swap your tablet for a good old book
updated the 14 July 2015 à 18:32According to the latest study from Harvard Medical University, researchers claim that reading from a tablet just before bed could spell disaster for your sleep pattern.
Do you fancy reading a thriller, antique novel or a romantic tale tonight? Before you rush to your tablet looking for a good story, read this!
No tablets in bed
Over the last fifty years, the quality and length of our sleep has been declining, naturally leading to fatigue as well as learning difficulties, mood swings and sleep disorders.
On the other hand, we now know that the blue light emitted by electronic appliances such as the computer, mobile phone, or tablet, generates changes in our circadian rhythm and prevents us from sleeping properly. According to a recent study, over 90% of Americans use an electronic device in the hour before bedtime.
If the tablets have invested time with us in beds since 5 or 6 years, researchers at the Harvard Medical School wanted to know what really was their impact on our sleeping patterns. For this, they recruited two groups of participants. Every night, the first had to read a classic hard copy book for several hours, while the second were given a tablet to read from. Those who used a tablet took longer to fall asleep, slept less and were less alert the next day. Their levels of melatonin – the sleep hormone – was significantly lower, resulting in a delay in their circadian rhythm.
The scientific conclusion is clear: “We have shown that using an electronic device that emits blue light just before going to bed has biological effects that can lead to chronic sleep deficit and a disruption of the circadian rhythm, with the key adverse effects on performance, health and safety.”
Source : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Maureen DIAMENT
