Exposure to bright light at night has been shown to increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 67%, as it disrupts the circadian rhythm (body clock), which negatively affects insulin secretion and glucose metabolism.
Researchers at Flinders University in Australia recently published a paper in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, providing evidence that light exposure is closely related to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that is acquired and is difficult to cure because it is related to lifestyle factors such as lack of physical activity and obesity.
“We found that exposure to brighter light at night increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes,” said Professor Andrew Phillips of Flinders University’s School of Medicine and Public Health. “Exposure to light at night disrupts our circadian rhythm, which can lead to changes in insulin secretion and glucose metabolism. If our circadian rhythm is disrupted, which leads to changes in insulin secretion and glucose metabolism, this can affect the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels, which can ultimately lead to the development of type 2 diabetes.”
He added that the rhythms of the central circadian clock—both timing and intensity—are almost entirely regulated by light.
Using data from 85,000 people enrolled in the UK Biobank, a biomedical database of the United Kingdom, and around 13 million hours of light sensor data, the researchers investigated whether analyzing an individual’s light exposure patterns could predict diabetes risk.
The research team attached a device to the wrists of participants without type 2 diabetes and tracked their exposure to light during the day and at night for a week. They then tracked whether the participants developed type 2 diabetes for up to nine years.
Previous studies have shown that greater exposure to light between 12:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. is associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, regardless of how much light is exposed during the day.
Even after taking into account other factors associated with type 2 diabetes, including the participants’ lifestyle, sleep patterns, shift work, eating habits and mental health, the Flinders University researchers found that more light exposure at night was still a strong predictor of developing diabetes.
They also found that the risk of developing the disease varied depending on the amount of light exposure. A linear (proportional) dose-response relationship was observed, with a 28% to 67% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes depending on the amount of light exposure at night.
This suggests that blocking out light at night could be a low-cost, high-efficiency measure to eliminate one of the risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes.
“Our findings suggest that reducing light exposure at night and maintaining a dark environment could be an easy and inexpensive way to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes,” said Professor Phillips.
Dr. Chelsie Rohrscheib, a neuroscientist and sleep expert at sleep specialist Wesper who was not involved in the study, said the findings were not surprising.
“Chronic poor sleep quality and duration leads to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, increased cortisol (the stress hormone), increased appetite, and increased inflammation—all of which are major risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes,” she explained through the diabetes nonprofit diaTribe.
References
-Personal light exposure patterns and incidence of type 2 diabetes: analysis of 13 million hours of light sensor data and 670,000 person-years of prospective observation
(DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.100943)
Reporter Park Hae-sik, Donga.com [email protected]
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2024-08-28 23:59:08