New green light bulbs may ruin your sleep
Low-energy light bulbs may make it harder to get to sleep, it was claimed today.
They give out less yellow sleep-inducing light than traditional bulbs and more of the blue light the brain associates with waking hours, according to sleep researchers at the University of Surrey.
The team is studying how artificial light can delay the onset of sleep, and may lead to sleep deprivation and health problems.
Professor Derk-Jan Dijk, lead researcher, said yellow light boosts levels of melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone.
The team is studying ways in which artificial light could be used to help people with sleep disorders such as insomnia, and how people who work night shifts can be helped to stay more alert during the time when the body is normally in "sleep mode".
