Study: Living through the orange glasses

van der Lely, S., Frey, S., Garbazza, C., et al. Blue blocker glasses as a countermeasure for alarming effects of the evening light-emitting screen exposure in male teenagers. j adolesc health. 2015; 56 (1): 113-119.

The study lasted 16 days and was organized in a balanced crossover design in 2 parts, which were separated by a period of at least 1 week to a maximum of 5 weeks. Each part of the study consisted of a 15.5-hour stay in the laboratory.

13 Healthy male high school students between the ages of 15 and 17 (average age = 16.5 years) took part in this study.

a week before the test in the laboratory, the participants wore either orange -tinted glasses from 6:00 p.m. to bed, which blocks blue light wavelengths, or similar glasses with clear glasses. The glasses were switched in a crossover design with counterweight. A device was attached to the glasses for measuring and recording the light exposure. The participants recorded how long they carried the glasses and how they used illuminated screens.

resting activity cycles during the week before the night of study were measured by an actiwatch (Phillips Healthcare, Eindhoven, Netherlands) worn on the wrist.

At the end of each "test week", the participants reported 5.5 hours before their normal bedtime in the laboratory. During the first 2 hours of the protocol, they sat in low light (<8 LX), followed by a 30-minute dark adaptation. Then they sat in front of a computer screen with light emitted diodes (LED) for three hours and wore either an orange blue blocker glasses or glasses with clear glasses. The lights in the laboratory were switched off and the LED screen was set to a white background. During the test session, the participants completed several cognitive ratings and handed over saliva samples every 30 minutes, which were tested for the presence of melatonin. After 3 hours of LED exposure, the participants went to sleep, and polysomnographic records were collected during the 8-hour sleep period. A similar cognitive test was carried out in the morning.

during the week, when the boys wore their orange -tinted glasses in the evening, they felt "much sleepier" than with clear glasses. The blue-blocking/orange glasses reduced the melatonin suppression induced by the LED screen and modulated the subjective sleepiness and vigilance in the late evening. Wearing the orange glasses was associated with a reduction in subjective and cognitive activation.

This is an interesting tool for young people with sleep train and night owls - their normal average teenager. This can also be an interesting instrument that should be considered for use in cancer patients.

human adolescents are so well known for their poor sleep quality, insufficient sleep duration and daily fatigue that it seems superfluous and hardly necessary to add a quote, but here is still one. 1 These sleep problems lead to emotional instability, limited daily function and poor academic performance. their inner watches, which are located in the Suprachiasmatic cores (SCN) of the hypothalamus, so that they are awakening in the evening. You want to delay the falling asleep and sleep later, 3 and the older you get, the worse this tendency. 4 between 0.5 % and 16 % of children with this tendency develop sleep -related problems 5 that have a negative effect on your home, school and your working life. Even children with good intentions with regard to day growth are doomed to fail by their own development changes; You just take longer to build up the need for sleep, which increases alertness at night and sleepiness in the morning. It is no surprise that they become tired during the day. 6 This situation is not relieved by the modern lifestyle, including school, social and sporting activities.

light is the most important thing for humanity timing of the synchronizers of our circadian watches, and the modern use of light-emitting screens cause confusion in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of our teenagers.

as if all of this would not be challenging enough, we have entered a new phase of human evolution: the era of artificial light from electronic sources. The multimedia screens that illuminate our computers, televisions and phones are a physiological challenge that teenagers are poorly prepared. Light is the most important thing for humanity Zeitger of the synchronizers of our circadian watches, and the modern use of LED screens cause confusion in the SCN of our teenagers.

A study published in British medical journal reported that teenagers need to fall asleep before going to bed, the more time they spend in front of the screen. The young people in this study stated that they needed an average of between 8 and 9 hours of sleep to feel rested. People with 4 or more hours of screen time per day were more likely to slept with 350 % more likely at night. It was also 49 % more likely that they needed more than 60 minutes to fall asleep. Adults usually fall asleep in less than 30 minutes. 8

The story behind the orange glasses

In 2001, Skene and colleagues reported that some light wavelengths in the oppression of melatonin had more effect than others. The shorter wavelengths of the light, which we perceive as dark blue, suppresses melatonin most. 9 Skene pointed out in A New York time s Article: "Devices such as smartphones and tablets are often highlighted by light -emitting diodes or LEDs, which tend to emit more blue light than incandescent. LED back lighting is another source for blue light, but since they are usually viewed from much greater distance than small screens such as phones, they may have less effect. ”

in 2002 Berson et al. These cells extend into part of the SCN and transmit information directly from the eyes. 11.12 in 2003 showed Lockley that these receptors react most sensitively to a certain color of blue light; 460 nm wavelength suppresses melatonin twice as much as 555 nm light. 13

In 2005, Cajochen put the circadian watches of the study participants back by using colored light. 14 At that time we saw all the ads and reports that carrying special glasses for filtering out blue light as useful in the treatment of sleep disorders. In 2008, Phelps reported success in the stabilization of bipolar patients in teenage with these blue -blocking lentils. ¹⁵ Earlier publications had recommended forced bed rest and the accommodation of these patients in stick dark rooms.

in 2014 a case report by Henrikson et al. A quickly cyclical bipolar patient who took part in a simple experiment. In the first 7 days of treatment, he wore clear glasses in the evening. This had no effect. On day 9 he switched to blue -blocking lenses for the next week; The researchers reported that

The transition to the blue blocking regime was followed by a rapid and persistent decline in manic symptoms, accompanied by a reduction in total sleep, a reduction in motor activity during the sleep intervals and a significantly increased regularity of the sleep intervals. The total duration of the patient's hospital stay was 20 days shorter than the average time during his former manic episodes. 17

In a publication from 2009, Burkhardt and Phelps compared the real bluefilling glasses with placebo lenses, using yellow-tinted safety glasses that are sold in hardware stores. Twenty adult volunteers wore the glasses for 3 hours every evening. After 3 weeks, only those with the True Blue blocking lenses reported about a significantly improved sleep compared to the controls.

The most fascinating of the possibilities proposed in medical literature is that these glasses can reduce the risk of cancer. It is generally known that the disturbance of a normal circadian rhythm increases the risk of cancer. The wearing of this glasses in the evening can prevent this disorder.

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19. Alpert M, Carome E, Kubulins V, Hansler R. The nightly use of special glasses or light bulbs that block blue light can reduce the risk of cancer. medium hypotheses. 2009; 73 (3): 324-325.

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