Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Gadgets ruining people's sleep: study

(AFP) A study released on Monday indicated that people in the United States are losing sleep over their gadgets. 

All but five percent of people surveyed as part of a National Sleep Foundation poll said they played videogames, watched television, or used smartphones or laptop computers in the hour before going to bed.

"This study reveals that light-emitting screens are in heavy use within the pivotal hour before sleep," said doctor Charles Czeisler of Harvard Medical School.
 
"Invasion of such alerting technologies into the bedroom may contribute to the high proportion of respondents who reported that they routinely get less sleep than they need."

Being bathed in the glow of monitors or handset screens suppresses the release of sleep-promoting hormone melatonin and enhances alertness, making it more difficult to sleep, according to Czeisler.
The poll showed that 43 percent of people ages 13 to 64 felt they rarely or never got a decent night's sleep during the work week..

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