101–110 of 113 posts
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I am not readily finding this bibliography. If you would be so kind as to link to it (and perhaps copy/paste if it is paywalled.)
pubmed dot com https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=light+depression https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=ipRGCs+depression
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There's a very long bibliography stretching back more than a decade and including at least one mouse model of depression. It's not just one study.
I am not readily finding this bibliography. If you would be so kind as to link to it (and perhaps copy/paste if it is paywalled.)
In the case of this study, a figure at the end of the manuscript shows that most of the light exposure (averaged) happens in the hour after bed and hour before getting up, so that seems like a big clue that it isn't just a case of light at night (ideally they would divide light exposure into three segments and look at each). Also, the study started with people not showing depressive symptoms but it didn't consider if light exposure had changed and the study seems on the small (863 people) and short (median 2 year follow up) side if light (and whatever else) exposure had not changed. For that matter, it sounds like they only measured light exposure and sleep for two days and assume that is representative of the whole period.
It sounds like the depression scale[1] was given at the beginning and end of the study and looking at number or duration of episodes could have a different result. Also, it isn't clear that depressive symptoms here necessarily correspond with depression or if they are signs of a sleep disorder.
All in all, this isn't a good study to look at individually.
[0] https://twin.sci-hub.tw/ef19202b216d8e1af61a7ced2510e060/oba...
[1] https://consultgeri.org/try-this/general-assessment/issue-4....
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I am not readily finding this bibliography. If you would be so kind as to link to it (and perhaps copy/paste if it is paywalled.)
There are a bunch of results for "light at night" on Google Scholar and Pubmed, but I'm not sure of specific references. This particular study (a manuscript is available on sci-hub[0]) does not have a discussion of this topic (other stuff that could come with the light) at all and two reviews I searched for "noise" and "sound" did not seem to have a discussion either. I'm sure some of the many studies over the years…
I am not going to be able to dig into the bibliography mentioned. I have been skimming titles and I am not swayed.
I used to be on a health list where abstracts were frequently posted. I stopped bothering to read the abstracts after speaking with a man with a PhD in chemistry who told me the abstracts frequently claim the opposite of the study.
A relative of mine works at the CDC and has had cancer multiple times. They used to bitch at me about the lack of good cancer studies. The detail I recall them lamenting was that basically you got dozens of variations on whatever the latest funding craze was because researchers could get money for that and maybe one out of a hundred studies was actually proposing a new idea, if that much.
I have read bad studies. I have participated in bad studies. I have been on health lists where people were asking for tips on how to qualify for studies as a means to get free treatment. It looked to me like a form of gaming the system in a way that would skew research results. I don't think they were up to anything nefarious. They just had serious health problems and we're desperate for help. But if you are getting tips for how to get into the study that you don't currently qualify for, I cannot help but think that will skew the study results.
I am generally a skeptical person anyway. But I am very leery of this kind of research.
In prehistoric times, before shelter was common, would a half or full moon cause the same effect? I just wonder about how actually natural a pitch black sleep is.
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European shutters are pretty nice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KePLmie7lE
The type shown in the video is pretty common in Germany and besides its ability to make a room pitch black it also provides a decent protection against burglary. Many, if not most of these shutters are certified for resistance class RC2 according to DIN EN 1627. The title of the video is wrong, by the way. It is not Rouladen, which would be a dish of filled rolled meat, but Rollladen. Rollladen is literally rolling s…
Sort of OT, but this reminds me of a question I've not been able to find an answer for on blue light and sleep. (OT because the article says nothing about blue light). One way light affects sleep is via the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs). These are a third kind of photoreceptor in our retinas, distinct from the more well known rods and cones. These are most sensitive to blue light. They…
No. Not at all - you do want blue light in the day, that too helps keep your clock regular. (A constant morning time is crucial.) But all that won't compensate for blue light stretching into the evening. Even way more red light at the same time as some blue light in the evening, while it helps reduce the effect of the blue, isn't fully effective.
One thing I miss from Italy are real shutters: https://blog.therealitaly.com/2007/08/09/window-technology/
I grew up sleeping in pitch black darkness, and having lived now for a while in the Nordics, where summer nights are light and curtains are mediocre at best, I can share that feeling. I wonder if the higher rates of depression here may have something to do with this (interestingly, I remember reading somewhere that suicides in the Nordics peak in Springtime).
Mind you, most hotels here that expect foreign guests have blackout blinds or at least very heavy curtains,
I think a lot of studies like this are just wrong. When I was a kid, I couldn't sleep without a light on because I'd get depressed. So later on in life if I didn't remember that, I'd think that I just had a light on and now I'm depressed. I think depressed people like a little light. Much like they say red meat causes cancer, I don't think it's the red meat. I think it's how it's cooked. Red meat is usually barbecued…
>So later on in life if I didn't remember that, I'd think that I just had a light on and now I'm depressed. What? Anyway, this study has strict definitions of what "depression" is, and I doubt whatever you felt as a child would qualify. >Much like they say red meat causes cancer, I don't think it's the red meat. I think it's how it's cooked. Red meat is usually barbecued and that char is what could be causing the can…
Because children don't get depressed? Why would you doubt what they felt would qualify clinically?
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I grew up sleeping in pitch black darkness, and having lived now for a while in the Nordics, where summer nights are light and curtains are mediocre at best, I can share that feeling. I wonder if the higher rates of depression here may have something to do with this (interestingly, I remember reading somewhere that suicides in the Nordics peak in Springtime).
I've lived in Norway (40 km south of Oslo for the last 32 years, generally with only light curtains. Not noticed any tendency to depression or difficulty sleeping in myself or my family. Mind you, most hotels here that expect foreign guests have blackout blinds or at least very heavy curtains,
I have blackout curtains nowadays, and I've also gotten used to the light somewhat, but I still miss proper rolling curtains that completely shut the light out.
I think a lot of studies like this are just wrong. When I was a kid, I couldn't sleep without a light on because I'd get depressed. So later on in life if I didn't remember that, I'd think that I just had a light on and now I'm depressed. I think depressed people like a little light. Much like they say red meat causes cancer, I don't think it's the red meat. I think it's how it's cooked. Red meat is usually barbecued…
>So later on in life if I didn't remember that, I'd think that I just had a light on and now I'm depressed. What? Anyway, this study has strict definitions of what "depression" is, and I doubt whatever you felt as a child would qualify. >Much like they say red meat causes cancer, I don't think it's the red meat. I think it's how it's cooked. Red meat is usually barbecued and that char is what could be causing the can…
They would be right about red meat but the point would be lost if people begin switching to bbqing chicken and still get cancer.