A study involving more than 11,000 people has found that exposure to light at night is associated with potentially harmful changes in both the structure and function of the heart. The findings were published September 9 in the European Heart Journal.
The research was led by Professor Lu Qi of Tulane University, New Orleans, USA. He said: "Previous observational studies have linked nighttime light exposure with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, but little is known about the related cardiac structure and functional changes. We carried out this research to find out what happens to the heart over time when people are exposed to too much light at nighttime."
Tracking Nighttime Light Exposure
The study included 11,071 participants from the UK Biobank. Each person wore a light sensor on their wrist for seven days, allowing researchers to measure how much light they were exposed to during the night.
Three years later, the participants underwent cardiac MRI scans. These detailed images allowed scientists to examine the structure of the heart as well as how effectively it was functioning.
