subject: How To Sleep With A Nightlight [print this page] Sleeping with a nightlight is often employed by people who suffer from nyctophobia or fear from the dark. This is particularly true for children. Also, another reason for using a nightlight is to prevent you from tripping on things in dark if you have to get up during the night or you have bad night vision. But scientists say that there are hidden dangers from using nightlight.
A few years back, University of Pennsylvania conducted a study that established that children age 2 and younger who sleep with night light on, are more prone to developing nearsightedness later in life. 10 percent of children who slept without a nightlight developed myopia, opposed to 34 percent of those who slept with the nightlight on. Recent studies, at Ohio state University and New England College of Optometry, claim the opposite. They say that there are no links between nearsightedness and night lights. One of the co-authors of the study at Ohio State, Karla Zadnik, insists that genetic traits play a more prominent role in nearsightedness, and that is why they included parents in their study, which explains their different results.
But this doesn't put nigh light users at ease, since there are evidence that it can create various issues, from diminished work proficiency to insomnia and feeling of fatigue despite having slept the entire night. Our body refuses to work on recuperating unless there is darkness in the room we sleep in.
More serious reason for concern is recent suggestion that lack of darkness during sleep can lead to cancer. Professor Russell Foster, who teaches visual neuroscience at Imperial College in London claims that our organism doesn't produce melatonin unless we sleep in dark room. Tests done on animals showed that melatonin can protect them from developing a cancer, and even though it is not quite clear what it does in human body, there are voices who suggest that it can have similar role. If it is right, this theory could quickly lead to the expulsion of night lights from our bedrooms.
There are already studies that have shown that night shift workers, who are exposed to strong lights during night, have much higher risks of developing certain forms of cancer.
Even if this is established as a medical fact it won't be an issue for those people who can turn their night lights off. But what of those who are still more afraid of monsters in their closets then serious illness? They may not have the luxury of turning the switch off.
