4 ms·

What exactly did the study say? Exposure to blue light suppresses melatonin levels. Melatonin is previously understood to regulate sleep. Ergo, while causation

by st26 8y ago

What exactly did the study say? Exposure to blue light suppresses melatonin levels. Melatonin is previously understood to regulate sleep. Ergo, while causation between blue light exposure and sleep quality is not proven, we at least have grounds for suspicion. What understanding am I missing? What "facts" are being misused?

nkurz 8y ago
What understanding am I missing? What "facts" are being misused? Jumping in from the sidelines, when you say "Exposure to blue light suppresses melatonin levels", I think the main thing missing is a notion of "dose response". How much blue light causes how much change in melatonin, and how does this affect sleep compared to other factors? Others here in the thread are suggesting that a blue LED indicators on electronics are a travesty. While I hate LED's of any color in my bedroom at night, and tape over indicator lights of all colors, I'm doubtful that this level of exposure affects melatonin levels. Does you think it does? Looking into it now, this seems like a good overview : https://medium.com/swlh/is-blue-light-destroying-your-sleep-no-but-worrying-about-it-is-b0ab1290bfee https://medium.com/swlh/is-blue-light-destroying-your-sleep-... And this is a good look at how melatonin supplements actually work: https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-th... An interesting point from both of them is that in controlled studies, both melatonin supplements and blue light exposure seem to cause about a 10 minute difference in time to fall asleep. While real, this is a much smaller effect than I would have guessed from most of the popular press coverage.
docker_up 8y ago
Did you even read the study? Or just the highlights on USA today? How much did it suppress melatonin levels? You don't know any of this.

by st26 8y ago

nkurz 8y ago

What understanding am I missing? What "facts" are being misused? Jumping in from the sidelines, when you say "Exposure to blue light suppresses melatonin levels", I think the main thing missing is a notion of "dose response". How much blue light causes how much change in melatonin, and how does this affect sleep compared to other factors? Others here in the thread are suggesting that a blue LED indicators on electronics are a travesty. While I hate LED's of any color in my bedroom at night, and tape over indicator lights of all colors, I'm doubtful that this level of exposure affects melatonin levels. Does you think it does? Looking into it now, this seems like a good overview : https://medium.com/swlh/is-blue-light-destroying-your-sleep-no-but-worrying-about-it-is-b0ab1290bfee https://medium.com/swlh/is-blue-light-destroying-your-sleep-... And this is a good look at how melatonin supplements actually work: https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-th... An interesting point from both of them is that in controlled studies, both melatonin supplements and blue light exposure seem to cause about a 10 minute difference in time to fall asleep. While real, this is a much smaller effect than I would have guessed from most of the popular press coverage.

docker_up 8y ago

Did you even read the study? Or just the highlights on USA today? How much did it suppress melatonin levels? You don't know any of this.