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In the News, Spring 2023: Light Exposure Prior to Bedtime Linked to Gestational Diabetes
Researchers from Northwestern Medicine found that greater pre-sleep light exposure during the second trimester of pregnancy was associated with increased risk of gestational diabetes, a condition with potential serious impact on the health of both mother and offspring.
The prospective cohort study, published in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Maternal Fetal Medicine, assessed 741 women at eight clinical sites in the US between 2011 and 2013. Their light exposure was measured with a wrist actigraph, and they each completed a sleep diary for seven consecutive days. It was found that the women who developed gestational diabetes had greater light exposure during the three hours before sleep onset but not in the daytime or while sleeping.
Lead author Dr. Minjee Kim suggests: “Try to reduce whatever light is in your environment in those three hours before you go to bed. It’s best not to use your computer or phone during this period. But if you have to use them, keep the screens as dim as possible.”
Sources: Dim lights before bedtime to reduce risk of gestational diabetes. Northwestern Now, March 13, 2023. news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/03/new-story-pagedim-lights-before-bedtime-to-reduce-risk-of-gestational-diabetes.
Kim M, Facco FL, Braun RI, et al. The association between light exposure before bedtime in pregnancy and the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM, 2023; 100922. doi:10.1016/j.ajogmf.2023.100922.
Published in the Journal of Health and Healing™
Spring 2023 | Volume 47, Number 1
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