Many people like to watch TV in bed or have the habit of taking their mobile phone, tablet or PC to entertain themselves for a while before sleeping. But according to Joaquín Terán, president of the Spanish Society of Sleep and head of the Sleep Unit of the Burgos Assistive Complex, it is not a positive ritual for your health.
According to Terán told the Agency SINC in an interview, “unnecessary exposure to light, before and during nighttime sleep, can cause health problems, including sleep disturbances.” The reasons, according to the head of the Sleep Unit, are that “light emitted by electronic devices used before normal sleep time produces a phase delay of activity of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and, consequently, the secretion of melatonin , Increases alertness, delays sleep onset, and decreases alertness in the morning. ”
Nor does it recommend sleeping with the light on or allowing light pollution to flood our bedroom, as “intensities as low as 5-10 lux, not only cause a more superficial sleep and frequent awakening, but produces a persistent effect on the brain waves Associated with deep sleep and its stability. ”
While recognizing that reading in bed has no negative effects, watching television “exerts a shattering effect of sleep” as a result of the emission of blue light. So the specialist recommends “banish the TV from the room where we sleep”.
