The Darker the better guys.

a must read entry.

a new discovery on how to slow cancer risk has been found by two studies. the Harvard studies and from Israel's University of Haifa (IUoH).

IUoH did the study in 164 countries through the satellite measurements of night-time light. they found out that the most brightly lit had the highest rates of prostate cancer, more than double those in the dimmest nations.

the harvard researchers also discovered that woman that those who sleeps with the light on were about 60 percent more likely to develop breast cancer.

why is this happening?

they believe that artificial light at night may contribute to cancer, perhaps because it slow production of the hormone melatonin. and what is this 'hormone melatonin'?

Melatonin is a hormone in the brain that helps regulate other hormones and maintains the body's circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is an internal 24-hour time-keeping system that plays a critical role in determining when we fall asleep and when we wake up. Darkness stimulates the production of melatonin while light suppresses its activity. Exposure to excessive light in the evening or too little light during the day can disrupt the body’s normal melatonin cycles. For example, jet lag, shift work, and poor vision can disrupt melatonin cycles. read more about melatonin here. (taken from University of Maryland Medical Center website)

so people,

• sleep in as dark a room as possible.
• use blinds or shades if you live on a bright street.
• keep a night light in the bathroom for midnight visit instead of turning on the overhead.
• a red bulb is the best- the red wave lengths cause the less drop of the hormone.

as for me, i always love to sleep in a dark room. if i sleep with the light-on, i will wake up with red-eyed + migrain + feel like having fever; as if i don't sleep at all.

and i've never have a table light for the whole of my life. i used to dream to have a cute table light as some of my friends have it, but now i think i have the reason of why shouldn't i have a table light.

so, turn off your light and sleep.

taken from Reader's Digest July 2009.