Also reduces bone mass, increase inflammation.
AB Wire
A group of researchers from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands has found that too much exposure to light is bad for health. It will reduce body strength, bone mass, and increase inflammation, the study revealed.
The research team headed by Johanna Meijer conducted the experiments on 134 mice to arrive at the findings which shed light on the effects of continuous light exposure on the human body.
The researchers put 134 mice under continuous lighting for six months and compared their health status before and after the lighting. They found that the mice had lost their body control strength and the quality of their internal body clocks was diminished.
The mice reported a considerable reduction in the ability to grip and cling to bars. Another body part affected was bones. It lost one-third of its strength leading to lowered ability to bear more weight.
Increased signs of inflammation found in the mice were also identified as the result of continuous exposure to light. The team found that the ability of the body clocks of the mice was reduced by 70 percent after the experiment.
Usually, there is a considerable difference in the signals given by the clock in days and nights. But there wasn’t much difference in the signals after the experiment. But, they quickly recovered the ability of the internal clock after having experienced darkness for some time.
The study further states that people like hospital patients, premature babies in neonatal units etc. may be more affected by the bad effect of light exposure.
Meijer says that introducing periods of darkness to such people can reduce the problems.
“You could, for example, cover their eyes at night with masks like those available to plane passengers,” Meijer was quoted as saying by New Scientist. “It shouldn’t be too hard to apply this knowledge in the real world.”