“We’ve #lost the #contrast between #light and #dark, and we are #confusing our #physiology on a regular basis,” said John Hanifin, PhD, associate #director of Thomas Jefferson University’s Light Research Program. Our own #galaxy is #invisible to nearly 80% of #people in North America. In 1994, an earthquake-triggered #blackout in Los Angeles led to calls to the Griffith Observatory from people wondering about that hazy blob of light in the #night #sky. It was the Milky Way. Glaring #headlights, #illuminated buildings, blazing #billboards, and #streetlights fill our #urban #skies with a #glow that even #affects #rural #residents. Inside, since the invention of the light #bulb, we’ve kept our #homes bright at night. Now, we’ve also added #blue light-emitting #devices — #smartphones, #television screens, #tablets — which have been linked to #sleep #problems. For one 2024 #study, researchers used #satellite data to #measure light #pollution at #residential #addresses of over 13,000 people. They found that those who lived in #places with the brightest skies at night had a 31% #higher risk of high blood pressure. Another study out of Hong Kong showed a 29% higher risk of #death from #coronary #heart #disease. And yet another found a 17% higher risk of #cerebrovascular disease, such as #strokes or #brain #aneurysms. Of course, urban areas also have #air pollution, noise, and a #lack of #greenery. So, for some studies, #scientists #controlled for these #factors, and the #correlation remained strong (although air pollution with fine #particulate #matter appeared to be worse for heart health than outdoor light). Research has revealed that light at night (#indoors or #out) disrupts #circadian #clocks, increases #inflammation, affects #cell division, and #suppresses #melatonin, the “hormone of darkness.” “Darkness is very important,” Hanifin said. When he and his colleagues #decades ago started studying the effects of light on human #physiology, “people thought we were borderline crazy,” he said. The #hormone #melatonin, produced when it’s #dark by the #pineal gland in the #brain, is a key player in this modern struggle. Melatonin helps you sleep, synchronizes the body’s circadian rhythms, protects #neurons from #damage, #regulates the #immunesystem, and fights inflammation. But even a sliver of light at night can #suppress its #secretion. Less than 30 lux of light, about the level of a #pedestrian street at night, can slash melatonin by half. Researchers #concede that #satellite data might be too #coarse to #estimate how much light people are actually #exposed to while they sleep. Plus, many of us are staring at #bright #screens. “But the studies keep coming,” Nelson said, suggesting that outdoor light pollution does have an #impact. https://lnkd.in/gu8DRdWm
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Can #northern #lights #solar #storms affect your #health? Studies have found a surprising #link. #Geomagnetic #radiation can #disrupt the #body’s #circadian #rhythm, #nervous system, #heart rate and #blood #pressure...During #SolarStorms, there are more #explosions — or #SolarFlares — ejected from the #sun’s surface. The explosions release #ionizing radiation that reaches the #Earth’s #atmosphere and could potentially disrupt electronic devices and parts of the power grid. Perhaps less well-known are the impacts such solar events have on human health. But periods of intense solar activity can disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm, nervous system, heart rate and blood pressure — even if they’re not visible to the human eye in the form of an #aurora, researchers say...“If solar activity is intense, geomagnetic activity is intense too,” said Carolina Zilli Vieira, a researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health who studies environmental radiation, including the links between solar activity and human health. “In intense geomagnetic activity, we observed an increase of heart rate variability, reduction of cognitive function, increase of blood pressure and adverse health outcomes for pregnant women.” #SolarRadiation, #GlobalWarming #HumanDisease #SRGWHD #ToxicLight #LightForensics https://lnkd.in/gXHvvRAF
Can northern lights solar storms affect your health? Studies have found a surprising link
sfchronicle.com
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The sun vs. the human: solar activity causes MI and strokes 🫀 Evaluating infrastructure damage during solar events is, firstly, an economic endeavour. Estimating human loss is a whole other matter. Researchers continue exploring space weather hazards and have found that solar events cause severe cardiovascular issues. Increased geomagnetic activity leads to: ⭕ Higher blood pressure Variations in geomagnetic activity lead to fluctuations in blood pressure, increasing the risk of hypertension-related complications. ⭕ Acute myocardial infarction (MI) Cases of heart attacks rise during high geomagnetic activity. One study indicated that anterior wall MI was the most common reason for hospital admission during such periods. Estimates suggest that solar storms contribute to around 5,500 heart-related deaths in the U.S. during a solar-eventful year. ⭕ Strokes Increased rates of strokes and cerebrovascular insufficiency are observed during geomagnetic disturbances. Their triggering effect is most evident in people under 65 years old, increasing their stroke risk by over 50%. ⭕ Heart rate variability (HRV) Geomagnetic fluctuations affect heart rate and rhythm. Lower HRV is associated with increased heart failure and mortality risk. Today’s medicine is a puppet in the hands of the pharmaceutical industry. Psychotherapy, exercise, and a healthy diet require patients to rely on something that’s not pills. Guess what organisations finance most research? But medication isn't a cure-all. With cardiovascular issues taking away 10,000 lives daily in the WHO European region alone, solar activity mustn’t be an oversight. Prudence in understanding space weather is what will save not just some anonymous patients but those who may be our friends or family. #pharma #space #spacetech #spaceweather #innovation
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A new study published in Neurology Journal suggests that climate change-induced extreme weather fluctuations, including freezing cold fronts and scorching heat waves, may be contributing to a significant increase in stroke deaths globally, with over half a million deaths annually attributed to these temperature shifts. Learn more about the #FitwelV3 Standard which aims to combat extreme weather conditions and protect occupant health in the built environment with our research-backed strategies: https://ow.ly/Xu1u50RN1xu #ClimateChange #PublicHealth
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Dangers of Electromagnetic Fields Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are ubiquitous in our modern environment, emanating from a variety of sources including power lines, household appliances, mobile phones, and Wi-Fi networks. While EMFs are invisible and intangible, their potential dangers have become a topic of increasing concern among scientists and health professionals. One of the primary dangers associated with EMFs is their potential impact on human health. Prolonged exposure to high levels of EMFs, especially from devices held close to the body, such as mobile phones, has been linked to various health issues. Some studies suggest that EMFs may contribute to an increased risk of cancer, particularly brain tumors. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified radiofrequency EMFs as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." Moreover, EMFs can potentially affect neurological function. There is evidence suggesting that exposure to EMFs can lead to changes in brain activity, sleep disturbances, and cognitive impairments. People living near high-voltage power lines have reported symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, and fatigue, although more research is needed to establish a definitive causal link. Children are considered particularly vulnerable to the effects of EMFs. Their developing nervous systems and thinner skulls may allow deeper penetration of EMF radiation, potentially increasing the risk of adverse health outcomes. While regulatory bodies have established safety guidelines for EMF exposure, there is ongoing debate about their adequacy. As the use of wireless technologies continues to expand, understanding and mitigating the potential dangers of EMFs is crucial. Adopting precautionary measures, such as using hands-free devices and limiting the duration of exposure, can help minimize the risks associated with EMFs. Kenneth Thompson Read Full article: https://lnkd.in/eDNnV32T
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I recently posted about #Seinfeld and #FalsePrecision. In doing so, I read about the flip side, "informal fallacy." I, like many others, assumed a healthy human body temperature to be 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Taken from John Allen Paulos, A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper... "Recent investigations involving millions of measurements have revealed that this number is wrong; normal human body temperature is actually 98.2 degrees Fahrenheit [and more recently, closer to 98 with large variability]. The fault, however, lies not with Dr. Wunderlich's original measurements—they were averaged and sensibly rounded to the nearest degree: 37 degrees Celsius. When this temperature was converted to Fahrenheit, however, the rounding was forgotten, and 98.6 was taken to be accurate to the nearest tenth of a degree." I can tell you that many data checks fail when a bunch of numbers are rounded and then summed. I didn't realize that my understanding of temperature suffers a similar issue, which is probably closest to 36.7 degrees Celsius (and a range of 0.7 degrees Celsius around it). https://lnkd.in/gnM4jfrz
Normal body temperature is personal, Stanford Medicine researchers find
med.stanford.edu
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A REMINDER... from seven months ago, which is relevant considering the recent discovery of ICNIRP's advice to avoid exposure to blue-rich light at night. https://lnkd.in/e97vK32B >>> I previously posted about cancer statistics for England tending to correlate with our increasing use of blue-rich LED lighting in public spaces. Blue-rich LEDs (4000K and above) suppress melatonin 25x more strongly than the low pressure sodium lamps that used to be used for street lighting and which are now being replaced by LEDs. As more of these blue-rich LEDs are introduced into our night-time environment, we are being exposed to a chronic environmental risk that the relevant authorities are either unaware of or refuse to acknowledge. Young people are more susceptible to melatonin suppression by artificial light than older people, and coincidentally, more young people are now suffering from cancers and other health detriments that have been linked with artificial light than used to be the case a decade or so ago. Here are a few extracts from "Cancer statistics, 2024, Rebecca Siegel et al., CA Cancer J Clin. 2024;74:12–49." (Rebecca Siegel works for Surveillance Research at the American Cancer Society). "Colorectal cancer was the fourth‐leading cause of cancer death in both men and women younger than 50 years in the late‐1990s but is now first in men and second in women." "In the past decade (2012–2019), the increase in incidence [of breast cancer - the biggest cause of new cancer cases in women] was steeper in women younger than 50 years (1.1% per year) than in those aged 50 years and older (0.5% per year)". "Since 2014... the prostate cancer incidence rate has risen by 3% per year, mostly driven by 4%–5% per year increases for regional‐stage and distant‐stage diagnoses that began as early as 2011" "After decades of increase, thyroid cancer incidence rates have declined since 2014 by about 2% per year... Notably, however, diagnoses have not curtailed in adolescents aged 15–19 years, among whom rates have increased by 4%–5% per year in both girls and boys" There is a consistent pattern emerging here, with anomalously increasing rates of cancers among the younger generation that have been linked to artificial light at night, paralleling the introduction of blue-rich white LEDs into municipal lighting. While it cannot be said conclusively without studying each individual case that exposure to artificial light at night has caused this, it is too significant to dismiss it as just a coincidence. Something has to be causing this unusual age shift in cancer, and artificial light at night provides a plausible explanation for it. This should be taken as a justification for the adoption of the Precautionary Principle. The use of blue-rich artificial lighting at night should be banned in public spaces.
FINALLY ICNIRP HAVE ISSUED ADVICE TO AVOID BLUE-RICH LIGHT AT NIGHT! On their web page dealing with LEDs, it says: "Regarding disruption of the human circadian rhythm, we are still learning about this complex issue and ICNIRP is working on a related Statement to be published in the near future. In the meantime, as a precautionary measure, ICNIRP recommends that exposure in the evening or nighttime to light sources that are rich in blue light be avoided." "IN THE MEANTIME, AS A PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE, ICNIRP RECOMMENDS THAT EXPOSURE IN THE EVENING OR NIGHTTIME TO LIGHT SOURCES THAT ARE RICH IN BLUE LIGHT BE AVOIDED" I cannot shout that recommendation loudly enough! Why is this statement not being made more prominently by ICNIRP, given that the adverse health effects being associated with this kind of light exposure at night are deadly serious? The evidence has already been there in the scientific research for over twenty years - why has it taken so long to acknowledge it, and why has a body whose primary function is supposedly the protection of the public been so mute on the subject for so long? SPREAD THE WORD - THE FORMAL ADVICE IS NOW OFFICIALLY OUT THERE! https://lnkd.in/eZ92bKzE.
LED
icnirp.org
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What was happening in the Longevity and DeSci sphere in July? Check out the Recap to find out 👇 https://lnkd.in/gxMA6KTC
Longevity and DeSci Recap – July 2024
https://www.lifespan.io
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In a paper recently published in Nature, researchers confirmed that 2023 was the hottest on record in the northern hemisphere in 2,000 years. In exploring this pressing issue, LDI Senior Fellow Sameed Khatana, along with fellows Lauren Eberly, Ashwin Nathan, and Peter W. Groeneveld estimated that by midcentury the amount of heat-related cardiovascular deaths in the U.S. will rise by up to 233% as climate change raises the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme heat. Additionally, they note that patients who are older and Black will experience more of the health effects from extreme heat. https://lnkd.in/e-g7z3ti
Study Links Climate Change to a Large Rise in Deaths
ldi.upenn.edu
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Aging Reversed? Uncover the Fascinating Study That's Turning Heads 🔄 I recently, did a talk on longevity insights at a private event. The buzz? It's all about how we might just outsmart aging. Picture this: a study from Israel. Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers. Thirty individuals over 64. Results? A 20% boost in telomere length. Those are key to understanding aging. And there's more. A 37% drop in senescent cells. Another key axing marker These findings? They're not just intriguing. They hint at a new realm of possibilities. Fascinated by what this means for our future? Curious about bringing this conversation to your event or company? Let's chat. We're on the brink of redefining longevity. If you're keen to explore how these advances can impact us today, reach out. I'm here to dive deep and share the journey. Also what are your questions about longevity? And what have you found most fascinating about the advances in Longevity? Share and lets learn from each other.
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Check out what scientists say are 21 ways to boost longevity. Pick a few off the list and start today.
21 ways to boost longevity: what the scientists say
ca.news.yahoo.com
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