Light, sleep and obesity - is there any connection between them?
Author : Dr. P. D.GUPTA
Former Director Grade Scientist, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India
www.daylife.page
In the year 2012 we published a book “Dark side of the night light” but in this book we could correlate it with hormone related cancers. Lately, many people surveyed the population which is exposed to night light such as night shift workers are obese too. A risk factor for obesity has been linked to alterations in sleep duration.
World at Night. Rich countries have morelighted and have more obese people; this shows the relation between light and obesity.
Researchers found that women who slept with a television or light on were more likely to gain weight and develop obesity. They were also 17% more likely to have gained around 11 pounds or more over the follow-up period. The association with light coming from outside the room was more modest. Using a small nightlight wasn’t associated with any more weight gain than sleeping with no light.
The findings suggest that turning off lights at bedtime could reduce the risk of becoming obese. Sleep is important for many reasons. Our body produces hormones while we sleep that help the body grow, build muscle, fight illnesses, and repair damage. Not getting enough sleep can affect our mood, health, weight, and ability to carry out day-to-day activities. Sleeping at night and being awake during the day is an example of a light-related circadian rhythm.
Individuals, such as night shift workers, who are exposed to light at night on a regular basis experience biological rhythm (i.e., circadian) disruption including circadian phase shifts, nocturnal melatonin suppression, and sleep disturbances. sleep loss is one of the risk factors for obesity. Sleep loss creates a hormone imbalance in the body that promotes overeating and weight gain. Leptin and ghrelin are hormones that regulate appetite, and when you aren’t getting sufficient sleep, the production of these hormones is altered in a way that creates increased feelings of hunger. Sleep deprivation is associated with growth hormone deficiency and elevated cortisol levels, both of which have been linked to obesity. Additionally, insufficient sleep can impair metabolism of food.
Sleep deficiency increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and even early death..Sleep loss creates a hormone imbalance in the body that promotes overeating and weight gain. Leptin and ghrelin are hormones that regulate appetite, and when you aren't getting sufficient sleep, the production of these hormones is altered in a way that creates increased feelings of hunger.
A troubling concern for individuals with obesity is that not only does sleep loss lead to weight gain, but being overweight also causes sleep issues, which can, in turn, worsen biological processes that contribute to weight gain. It is a frustrating cycle, but help is available for people who are overweight or obese to improve sleep and the health effects associated with sleep loss.
People who are obese are more likely to report insomnia or trouble sleeping than those who are not obese. There is also evidence to suggest that obesity is associated with increased daytime sleepiness and fatigue , even in people who sleep through the night undisturbed. Researchers suggest that obesity may change metabolism and/or sleep-wake cycles in such a way that causes sleep quality to deteriorate. It’s also possible that there are physical effects of carrying excess weight itself which impact sleep quality.
Sleep disturbances can lead to immune suppression and a shift to the predominance in cancer-stimulatory cytokines. Some studies suggest that a shortened duration of nocturnal sleep is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer development. (The author has his own study and views)
